RELIGIOUS  PRDGRESS 

ON  THE 

PACIFIC  SLOPE 


Columbia  Bntbetiittp 

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RELIGIOUS  PROGRESS  ON  THE  PACIFIC  SLOPE 


Phofessoii  Joseph  Augustine  Benton.  D.D. 


RELIGIOUS  PROGRESS 

ON  THE  PACIFIC 

SLOPE 


ADDRESSES 

AND  PAPERS  AT  THE  CELEBRATION  OF  THE 

SEMI-CENTENNIAL  ANNIVERSARY 

OF    PACIFIC   SCHOOL   OF 

RELIGION,  BERKELEY, 

CALIFORNIA 


THE    PILGRIM    PRESS 

BOSTON  CHICAGO 


Copyright  1917 
Bt  CHARLES  S.  NASH 


.M'^ 


THE   PILGRIM   PRESS 
BOSTON 


FOREWORD 

Centennials  and  even  semi-centennials  are  as  yet  too  few 
and  infrequent  in  Western  America  to  be  commonplace  and 
negligible.  Each  one,  as  it  occurs,  possesses  a  significance 
due  in  part  to  the  youth  of  the  West.  The  semi-centennial 
of  Pacific  Theological  Seminary,  celebrated  October  8-13, 
1916,  will  have  in  history  the  eminence  of  being  the  first  of 
its  kind  west  of  the  Rocky  Mountains,  the  first  jubilee,  that 
is,  of  a  Protestant  theological  school.  It  is,  in  fact,  more  than 
the  anniversary  of  a  single  institution.  It  gave  occasion  for 
looking  backward  and  forward,  for  tracing  the  development  of 
this  important  section  of  our  country,  of  estimating  present 
values,  of  forecasting  to  some  extent  the  greater  future  and 
resolving  to  achieve  it. 

This  volume  is  thus  more  than  the  record  of  an  anniversary 
week.  Its  contents  present  past  and  present  conditions  on 
the  Pacific  Slope  and  indicate  the  forward  trend.  The  papers 
and  addresses  were  prepared  with  pains  and  thoroughness, 
and  offer  materials  of  lasting  value.  Gratitude  is  here  ex- 
pressed to  all  who  co-operated  to  give  permanent  worth  to  the 
celebration.  Several  of  the  addresses  cannot  be  secured  for 
publication;  they  were  of  the  same  high  order  and  would 
have  enriched  this  volume. 

The  spirit  of  the  anniversary  was  filled  with  gratitude  for 
the  past  and  confident  hope  for  the  future.  Tokens  of  divine 
guidance  have  been  many  and  signal  through  the  fifty  years. 
Generous  testimonies  were  given  of  the  far-reaching  service 
of  the  institution,  of  its  high  place  in  pubhc  esteem,  of  its 
contribution  to  the  rising  life  and  educational  forces  of  Berke- 
ley, and  the  Pacific  Slope. 

The  broad  fraternal  and  interdenominational  spirit  of  the 
anniversary  deserves  especial  mention.     At  this  auspicious 


vi  Foreword 

time  Pacific  Theological  Seminary,  for  reasons  that  appear 
in  the  volume,  took  the  larger  tit^e.  Pacific  School  of  Rehgion. 
It  enjoys  the  co-operation  of  Christians  and  churches  of 
many  names.  It  had  been  undenominational  and  union 
since  1912,  while  in  all  its  history  it  had  made  its  service  as 
extended  and  inclusive  as  possible.  At  the  semi-centennial 
this  broad  character  was  conspicuous  and  was  cheered  and 
fortified  by  the  fraternal  relations  enjoyed. 

Many  requests  for  pubhcation  have  come  from  those  who 
heard  the  addresses  and  from  other  friends  of  the  school. 
In  response  to  these  and  in  the  faith  that  it  will  add  some- 
thing of  value  to  the  records  of  the  Pacific  Coast,  as  well  as 
to  the  service  of  the  institution,  this  volume  is  issued.  It  is 
made  possible  by  the  ample  provision  of  the  E.  T.  Earl  Lec- 
tureship Foundation.  It  is  offered  with  earnest  hope  for  its 
usefulness  to  the  alumni  and  friends  of  Pacific  School  of  Relig- 
ion, to  educational  institutions  and  public  libraries,  to  all 
who  are  interested  to  trace  the  past,  estimate  the  present 
and  forecast  the  future. 

Charles  Sumner  Nash, 
John  Wright  Buckham, 

Editors. 


CONTENTS 

PART  I 

Democracy  and  Christian  Leadership 

CHAPTER  PAGE 

I    The  Place  of  the  Minister  in  a  Democracy.     Bishop  3 

F.  J.  McConnell,  D.D.,  LL.D 

II    Will  Jesus  Survive?    Pres.   J.   H.   T.   Main,   Ph.D., 

LL.D 14 

III  Christian  Leadership.     Rev.  Frank  K.  Sanders,  Ph.D., 

D.D.,  LL.D 33 

PART  II 
Retrospect  and  Prospect 

IV  Origin  and  Growth  of  the  Protestant  Church.     Rev.  W. 

W.  Ferrier,  D.D 49 

V    College  and  University  Education.     Rev.  B.  J.  Morris, 

B.D.,  Ph.D 82 

VI    Theological  Education.     Prof.   G.   T.   Tolson,   M.A., 

B.D    108 

VII     Social  Betterment.     Rev.  A.  W.  Palmer,  B.D 125 

VIII    Religious  Education.     Rev.  M.  B.  Fisher,  B.D.,  D.D..  .  145 
IX    ReUgious  Work  Among  Immigrants.     Rev.  G.  W.  Hin- 

man,  M.A.,  B.D 160 

X    Relations  with  the  Orient.     Prof.  H.  H.  Guy,  B.D., 

Ph.D 187 

XI    Religious  Thought.     Prof.  J.  W.  Buckham,  D.D 212 

PART  III 

The  Semi-Centennial  of  Pacific  Theological  Seminary 

XII    A  Historical  Sketch.     Rev.  S.  C.  Patterson,  B.D 227 

XIII  The  Faith  and  Courage  of  the  Founders.     Rev.  Walter 

Frear,  D.D 254 

XIV  The  Future  of  Pacific  School  of  Religion.     Pres.  Charles 

Sumner  Nash,  M.A.,  D.D 274 

PART  IV 

The  Larger  Ministry  of  Schools  of  Religion 

XV    The  Possibilities  of  a  School  of  Rehgion  on  the  Pacific 

Coast.    President  J.  H.  T.  Main,  LL.D 289 

XVI    Service  to  the  Social  Order.    Chaplain  D.  Charles  Gard- 
ner        294 

XVII     Service  to  the  World-wide  Kingdom.     Pres.  J.  L.  Sea- 
ton,  S.  T.  B.,  Ph.D 300 

XVIII     The  Movement  toward   Church  Union.     Bishop  W. 

M.  BeU,  D.D 307 

Semi-Centennial  Hymn.    Prof.  J.  W.  Buckham 319 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 

Joseph  Augustine  Benton,  D.D Froniispiece 

PAGE 

George  Mooar,  D.D 72 

Israel  Edson  Dwinell,  D.D 214 

President  John  Knox  McLean,  D.D.,  LL.D 242 

President  Charles  Sumner  Nash,  D.D 276 

The  Faculty 306 


PART  I 
DEMOCRACY  AND  CHRISTIAN  LEADERSHIP 


RELIGIOUS  PROGRESS  ON  THE 
PACIFIC   SLOPE 


Chapter  I 

THE  PLACE  OF  THE  MINISTER  IN  A 
DEMOCRACY  1 

The  Rev.  Francis  John  McConnell,  D.D. 
Bishop  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church 

I  wish  to  speak  to  you  for  a  little  while  this  evening  about 
the  place  of  the  preacher  in  a  democracy.  Of  course  it  is  the 
merest  commonplace  to  say  that  the  movement  toward 
democracy  is,  or  was,  until  the  temporary  interruption  by  the 
great  war,  the  most  outstanding  movement  in  our  day.  The 
peoples  everywhere  are  insisting  upon  a  larger  measure  of 
control  for  themselves.  They  are  insisting  upon  controlling 
all  the  institutions  under  which  they  Uve.  The  democratic 
movement  goes  on  in  politics,  it  goes  on  in  industry;  the  day 
when  a  man  could  run  his  business,  if  it  was  a  large  business, 
just  to  suit  himself,  is  gone.  The  movement  goes  on  also  in 
the  church.  If  there  are  any  governing  authorities  in  church 
institutions  in  these  days,  they  must  be  made  as  largely  re- 
sponsive to  the  common  needs  of  the  people  as  possible. 
Democracy  means  this:  whatever  the  form  of  government, 
the  general  will  of  the  people  shall  have  the  right  of  way. 

What  is  to  be  the  part  of  the  preacher  in  the  days  just 
ahead  of  us?  Is  he  to  lose  anything  of  his  power?  Is  he  to 
come  to  any  greater  power?  There  have  been  some  prophets 
of  the  coming  day  of  larger  social  control  who  have  said  that 
when  the  people  fully  rule,  the  ministry  as  a  class  will  disap- 
pear. I  remember  reading  a  book  about  ten  years  ago  by  a 
prominent  sociahst  who  made  a  prediction  that  some  day  the 

1  This  and  the  two  following  chapters  were  given  as  semi-centennial  lectures  in  the  First 
Congregational  Church,  Berkeley. 


4  Religious  Progress  on  the  Pacific  Slope 

people  will  rule  in  everything;  the  socialist  program  will  be 
carried  out  in  every  detail,  and  among  other  predictions  this 
socialist  prophesied  that  then  there  will  be  no  place  for  an 
order  of  ministers.  People  will  meet  together,  —  groups  that 
have  like  religious  interests,  —  at  set  times,  and  will  simply 
call  upon  one  of  their  number  to  state  his  views  concerning 
spiritual  things.  That  will  be  all  the  preaching  that  will  be 
necessary.  And  I  presume  that  a  great  many  other  persons 
have  thought  that  the  ministry  may  disappear  if  we  should 
have  anything  like  a  state  of  socialism.  Some  seem  to  think 
that  the  church  itself  will  disappear.  And  yet  among  social- 
ists themselves,  thought  has  greatly  changed  in  the  past  ten 
years.  It  is  now  insisted  that  no  matter  how  complete  the 
control  of  the  people  is  to  become  there  will  be  opportunity 
in  the  new  social  organization  for  every  man  to  work  ac- 
cording to  his  own  particular  bent  and  become  expert  in  his 
own  particular  fashion.  We  are  not  moving  forward  to  a 
time  when  every  man  shall  be  the  equal  of  every  other  man 
in  every  respect;  we  are  moving  forward  toward  the  time 
when  every  man  shall  be  the  equal  of  every  other  man  so  far 
as  opportunities  and  privileges  are  concerned;  the  new 
organization  will  aim  to  do  away  with  the  artificial  differences 
between  men.  If  a  man  has  any  decisive  message  there  will 
be  a  chance  for  him  to  state  his  truth,  a  chance  to  make  his 
impression,  no  matter  what  the  organization  of  society  may  be. 
One  of  the  duties  before  us  in  this  matter  of  increasing  social 
control  is  to  bring  people  to  respect  the  expert.  A  wise  man 
once  said,  "  Of  course  it  is  hard  for  us  to  respect  what  is  not 
inherently  respectable."  But  if  we  have  a  respectable  expert, 
a  man  who  is  skilled  along  any  line,  he  must  have  his  chance 
no  matter  how  far  the  democratic  movement  may  go.  If  we 
are  to  have  ministers,  we  must  have  expert  training  for 
ministers.  If  it  is  necessary  (I  don't  know  that  it  is),  —  but 
if  it  is  necessary  for  ministers  to  know  the  Hebrew  language  we 
must  have  some  one  to  teach  Hebrew;   if  it  is  necessary  for 


The  Minister  in  a  Democracy  5 

them  to  know  the  Greek,  we  must  have  some  one  to  teach 
Greek;  if  we  are  to  have  trained  experts  in  city  work,  or  any 
other  form  of  work,  it  will  be  necessary  for  some  one  to  train 
them;  and  society  must  always  set  apart  and  train  men  who 
have  any  gift  of  making  men  aware  of  spiritual  realities  and 
finer  values  in  this  life.  A  socialist  of  today  has  said :  "How 
terrible  it  is  to  think  that  under  any  circumstances  Kreisler, 
the  Austrian  viohnist,  should  be  compelled  to  spend  even  four 
weeks  in  the  trenches.  Men  of  that  ability  should  be  set 
apart  and  looked  upon  as  sacred  for  the  benefit  of  society  as  a 
whole."  Now  there  is  an  artistic  side  to  the  ministry.  It 
requires  a  fine  training  of  mind  and  feeling  to  make  men 
aware  of  the  presence  of  the  things  of  God  in  this  world. 
The  day  will  never  come,  it  seems  to  me,  when  the  minister 
will  cease  to  have  opportunity  to  go  apart  from  men,  —  to  go 
into  his  own  closet  and  shut  his  door  and  separate  himself 
for  the  time  from  his  fellows  to  receive  the  messages  of  God. 
So  then,  since  there  must  always  be  a  place  for  the  trained 
minister,  no  matter  how  democratic  the  organization  of  so- 
ciety may  become,  —  a  man  trained  in  the  use  of  the  tools  of 
his  craft,  a  man  trained  to  all  fine  sense  of  the  artistic  in  his 
work,  trained  to  find  his  way  up  into  communion  with  God, 
what  principles  shall  we  lay  down  as  we  think  of  the  preacher 
ministering  to  the  mass  of  men  in  this  world  and  trying  to 
speak  a  really  democratic  message? 

As  good  a  definition  of  democracy  as  we  have  ever  had  is 
that  from  Abraham  Lincoln  —  "  government  of  the  people, 
by  the  people  and  for  the  people."  The  preacher  would  do 
well  to  keep  the  suggestiveness  of  that  definition  in  mind  as 
he  labors;  he  must  keep  in  mind  that  he  is  working  as  a  serv- 
ant of  the  people;  that  he  is  their  minister  in  every  respect; 
that  in  a  certain  sense  people  are  to  speak  through  him, 
expressing  their  spiritual  needs  through  him;  and  that  his 
utterance  is  always  for  the  people.  If  that  is  true  there  are 
certain  characteristics  which  should  obtain  in  the  preaching 


6  Religious  Progress  on  the  Pacific  Slope 

of  the  minister  in  a  democratic  age.  First  of  all,  preaching 
in  these  days  of  movement  toward  increasing  democracy 
should  aim  at  the  average  mind  in  the  congregation.  The 
preacher  may  think  he  does  his  full  duty  by  preaching  to  the 
top  minds  in  his  congregation.  In  almost  every  congregation 
there  are  certain  minds  peculiarly  trained  and  endowed; 
they  stand  out  like  peaks  above  the  general  level.  But  the 
minister  should  not  ask  himself,  how  will  the  lawyer  in  my 
congregation,  how  will  the  physician,  the  teacher,  the  college 
graduate,  be  struck  by  this  that  I  am  saying.  If  he  will 
really  make  his  speech  effective  with  the  ordinary  minds,  — 
men  off  the  street,  men  out  of  the  shop,  men  from  the  office, 
women  out  of  their  housework,  —  he  will  at  the  same  time 
make  his  speech  effective  with  those  of  greater  endowment 
and  training.  For  real  training  shows  itself  in  a  willingness 
and  ability  to  appreciate  a  fine  piece  of  work  in  the  way  of  a 
simple  and  clear  statement.  When  I  am  talking  about  demo- 
cratic preaching  I  do  not  mean  merely  "  giving  the  people 
what  they  want."  I  am  talking  about  influencing  the  thought 
of  the  main  mass  of  the  people  who  come  before  us.  If  we 
give  the  people  merely  what  they  wish  we  sink  out  of  the 
place  of  prophets  and  drop  down  to  the  level  of  mere  religious 
entertainers;  and  that  is  not  what  we  are  here  for.  We  are 
here  to  make  the  people  understand,  —  to  find  lodgment  for 
the  truth  of  God  in  the  hearts  of  the  people.  As  was  said  in 
quaint  old  English,  the  spiritual  leaders  of  the  Reformation 
put  the  word  of  God  into  such  language  that  it  can  be  easily 
"  understanded  "  of  the  people,  —  into  simple  and  clear 
phrasing  that  takes  the  things  of  the  kingdom  of  God  and 
makes  them  effective  for  the  ordinary  mind.  By  ordinary,  I 
mean  the  man  who  has  to  do  the  ordinary  work  of  the  world, 
the  man  who  has  not  had  much  chance  for  formal  rehgious 
instruction,  it  may  be;  but  the  man  whom  the  gospel  is 
peculiarly  intended  to  reach. 

Many  of  us  are  afraid  to  be  simple.     We  do  not  see  that 


The  Minister  in  a  Democracy  7 

it  takes  rather  a  high  order  of  mind  to  make  a  simple  state- 
ment of  truth.  What  costs  most  in  the  furniture  of  your 
house?  The  simple  furniture.  What  costs  most  in  the  mount- 
ing of  a  jewel?  Simplicity.  What  are  the  hardest  strokes  for 
the  artist  to  obtain?  Not  the  elaborate  strokes;  no,  —  the 
simple  strokes.  Artists  say  one  mark  of  artistic  degeneration 
is  the  tendency  to  get  away  from  the  straight  line  and  the 
simple  stroke  to  the  line  more  gaudy  and  elaborate.  And  so 
in  preaching,  —  if  we  can  keep  close  to  the  type  of  the  lan- 
guage of  the  New  Testament  we  shall  do  well.  Charles  A. 
Dana  used  to  say  that  the  greatest  event  of  the  history  of  the 
world,  —  the  crucifixion,  —  is  described  in  six  hundred  simple 
words.  If  we  keep  close  to  the  gospel,  yes,  and  keep  close  to 
the  method  of  the  Master  Himself,  we  shall  proclaim  the  good 
news  of  God  in  as  simple  and  effective  language  as  we  can 
command. 

You  are  being  trained  in  a  theological  school.  Do  not,  for 
an  instant,  imagine  that  your  intellectual  ability  is  to  show 
itself  in  the  quotations  which  you  make  from  learned  authors 
or  in  easy  use  of  technically  intellectual  expressions.  The 
true  preacher  gets  away  from  all  such  show;  he  rests  upon  com- 
plete sincerity  of  expression  and  aims  at  nothing  but  making 
the  truth  understood.  You  remember  the  picture  of  olden 
days  when  the  priests  came  to  the  day  of  atonement,  when 
they  were  seeking  pardon  for  the  sins  of  the  people.  Did 
they  put  on  elaborate  robes?  No,  —  everything  was  simple. 
The  Book  tells  us  that  the  priests  put  on  their  white  robes. 
That  was  the  one  day  when  the  supreme  needs  of  the  people 
stood  out  clearly  before  every  other  thought.  And  when 
we  are  deahng  with  the  spiritual  needs  of  the  people  in  that 
sacred  time,  —  that  thirty  or  thirty-five  minutes  of  preaching 
on  Sunday  morning  or  Sunday  night,  —  let  us  lay  off  the 
gaudy  garments  of  rhetoric  and  put  on  the  white  robes  of 
simple  speech. 

In  these  days  we  need  to  lay  stress  upon  the  human  tests 


8  Religious  Progress  on  the  Pacific  Slope 

of  religion.  This  is  the  second  ideal  that  should  guide  us  in 
a  ministry  for  a  society  moving  more  and  more  toward  democ- 
racy. We  are  to  think  of  the  adequacy  of  our  religion  to 
these  great  human  needs  in  which  we  are  all  alike,  —  the  great 
passions,  the  great  hungers,  the  great  thirsts.  More  and 
more  the  human  test  is  to  be  the  test  of  religion.  You  can 
stand  before  your  people  and  say,  "  This  is  so  because  the 
Bible  says  so,"  but  they  will  pass  by  on  the  other  side.  You 
can  stand  before  your  people  and  say,  "  Come  into  the  church 
because  the  church  is  a  divine  institution."  We  believe  this, 
but  will  it  arrest  men  in  the  midst  of  their  sins  and  turn  them 
in  the  other  direction?  You  can  say  to  them,  "  I  believe  this 
creed,  every  item  of  it."  Well  and  good;  we  understand  what 
you  mean,  but  will  that  convince  the  people?  The  final  test 
is  just  this:  Can  our  religion  be  made  compelling  and  useful? 
The  human  test  is  the  only  test.  If  the  creed  makes  for  better 
men  and  women  this  is  its  justification.  The  worth  of  the 
Book  is  that,  put  in  the  midst  of  peoples  that  know  not  God, 
it  brings  those  peoples  to  see  a  great  light.  The  test  of  the 
church  is:  Does  it  serve?  Does  it  get  hold  of  men,  women 
and  children  and  Hft  them  up  to  a  burning  passion  for  the 
betterment  of  everything  human? 

The  one  test,  I  repeat,  by  which  every  political  institution, 
every  industrial  institution,  and  every  religious  institution 
must  stand  or  fall  is  just  this:  What  difference  does  the 
institution  make  to  human  lives?  The  only  truth  the  Master 
talks  about  is  the  truth  of  the  human  life.  "  I  am  the  Truth," 
He  said.  Christ's  test  must  be  applied  to  the  church  just  as 
to  everything  else.  I  knew  a  venerable  minister  once,  — 
a  fine  man,  —  who  said  to  me,  "  I  have  been  standing  in  my 
pulpit  for  the  last  thirty  years  at  the  corner  of  such  and  such 
streets  in  a  great  city,  and  I  have  this  to  say  for  myself :  '  We 
have  kept  the  old  flag  flying;  we  have  held  the  fort  through 
all  these  years.'  "  He  had  an  abstract  creed  and  an  abstract 
doctrine  of  the  church  and  an  abstract  doctrine  of  the  scrip- 


The  Minister  in  a  Democracy  9 

tures,  and  he  was  standing  for  these  when  he  was  holding  the 
fort.  The  only  trouble  with  the  fort  was,  there  was  nobody  in 
it.  It  is  abstractly  fine  to  see  a  man  stand  for  a  duty  in  ab- 
stract fashion,  but  here  was  a  man  in  a  church  at  the  crowded 
ways  of  life  making  nobody  listen  to  his  message.  He  put 
the  defence  of  abstract  statements  above  the  idea  of  minister- 
ing to  human  needs.  Most  pious  men  were  those  Jews  who 
quarrelled  with  Christ  because  he  allowed  a  healed  man  to 
carry  his  bed  upon  the  Sabbath  day.  Christ  had  to  tell  them 
that  the  Sabbath  was  made  for  man  and  not  man  for  the 
Sabbath.  The  institutions  round  about  us  have  only  as  much 
sacredness  as  they  show  themselves  to  have  in  deahng  with 
human  hfe.  Glance  through  the  New  Testament  and  note 
how  easy  it  was  for  Christ  to  forgive  certain  kinds  of  fault  — 
the  faults  of  sense,  as  for  example  that  of  the  woman  taken  in 
sin.  "  He  that  is  without  sin  among  you,  let  him  first  cast 
a  stone  at  her  ";  "  Neither  do  I  condemn  thee;  go  and  sin 
no  more."  The  ordinary  sins  of  impulse  and  waywardness,  — 
the  Master  looked  out  upon  men  sinning  sins  of  this  kind  with 
compassion,  eager  to  forgive.  But  how  absolutely  unsparing 
in  His  condemnation  was  the  Master  against  men  who  al- 
lowed any  kind  of  institution  to  get  in  between  them  and  the 
rehef  of  the  human  needs  around  them.  His  terrific  con- 
demnation of  the  Pharisees  was  that  they  bound  men's 
shoulders  with  institutional  burdens  too  grievous  to  be  borne; 
pihng  a  system  of  laws  on  stumbling  humanity. 

The  one  great  question  anybody  has  a  right  to  ask  of 
preaching  is:  "  Well,  what  of  it?  What  difference  to  human 
beings  does  it  make?  " 

A  further  insight  into  the  function  of  the  preacher  in  a 
democracy  comes  as  we  realize  that  every  age  must  have  its 
mouthpiece  before  the  thought  of  that  age  itself  becomes 
really  effective.  There  are  half-way  conceptions,  glimpses  of 
the  truth,  on  the  part  of  large  numbers  of  persons.  Then  some 
leader  comes  who  gathers  up  and  condenses  all  this  into  a  great 


10  Religious  Progress  on  the  Pacific  Slope 

statement.  Gladstone  said:  "It  is  the  business  of  the 
speaker  to  give  back  to  the  audience  in  streams  and  refreshing 
showers  what  comes  up  from  the  audience  in  mist  and  cloud." 
If  our  people  say  to  us  after  we  have  finished,  "  What  a 
wonderful  sermon!  We  never  thought  of  that  before,"  it  is 
very  likely  they  will  never  think  of  it  again.  If  they  say, 
"  I  have  thought  of  that;  I  have  half-way  glimpsed  that,  but 
I  never  thought  of  putting  it  that  way,"  the  sermon  has 
ministered.  It  has  taken  the  thought  of  the  congregation 
and  sent  it  back,  as  Gladstone  would  say,  in  refreshing  show- 
ers. The  great  leader  takes  that  which  comes  out  of  human 
life  and  expresses  it  in  appealing  and  convincing  human 
fashion. 

Three  stages  I  have  passed  through  in  the  study  of  Shake- 
speare. The  first  time  I  read  Shakespeare  I  was  greatly 
impressed  with  the  number  of  things  Shakespeare  said  that  I 
had  myself  thought  of.  At  first  I  was  tempted  to  think  that 
Shakespeare  had  been  grievously  overestimated.  "  Nothing 
very  strange  in  this;  I  have  thought  of  a  great  deal  of  this 
myself."  That  was  my  first  reaction.  The  second  reaction 
was  that  possibly  I  had  been  underestimated;  that  having 
thought  of  these  things  that  Shakespeare  had  thought  of, 
perhaps  I  had  a  mind  like  Shakespeare's.  The  third  state  of 
mind  into  which  I  came  was,  that  while  I  had  thought  of  a 
great  many  of  the  things  that  Shakespeare  had  said  it  had 
never  occurred  to  me  to  put  them  in  just  his  way. 

Now,  so  it  is  in  successful  preaching;  the  common  tempta- 
tions, the  desires  that  move  people ;  the  angles  of  their  lives  at 
which  stress  comes;  thoughts  of  all  these  float  through  the 
consciousness  of  the  people  week  after  week.  A  faithful 
pastor  will  know  what  the  people  are  thinking  of,  and  somehow 
as  he  preaches  will  send  forth  the  expression  that  condenses 
and  clarifies  the  common  thinking;  that  takes  the  cloud 
and  mist  and  sends  it  down  the  mountainside  in  refreshing 
streams  and  showers.     The  mountain  stands  over  against  the 


The  Minister  in  a  Democracy  11 

sea.  The  clouds  beat  against  the  side  of  the  mountain;  the 
mountain  catches  the  cloud  and  sends  its  moisture  down  to 
make  possible  cities,  vineyards  and  pleasant  homes.  And  so 
you,  as  preachers  in  a  democracy,  stand  over  against  the  sea  of 
human  life  that  washes  into  your  village,  or  your  town,  or 
your  city.  As  that  sea  washes  back  and  forth  every  week 
through  the  village,  or  town,  or  city  you  stand  over  against  it, 
—  if  you  are  a  servant  of  the  living  God,  —  as  a  mountain, 
taking  the  clouds  and  the  mists  that  rise  against  you  and  send- 
ing them  all  back  upon  the  people  in  refreshing  showers. 

Finally,  what  is  Christian  democracy?  The  body  of  Christ. 
Is  Christian  democracy  something  that  levels  people  all  down 
flat,  reduces  them  to  monotonous  sameness?  Is  Christian 
democracy  a  state  in  which  all  life  must  run  in  one  groove? 
Is  Christian  democracy  some  condition  in  which  all  the  people 
must  have  just  one  kind  of  experience?  No.  Christian  de- 
mocracy is  an  ideal  of  one  great  body  with  all  men  members 
of  that  body;  of  one  spirit  and  differences  of  operations  in  the 
manifestation  of  this  same  spirit;  of  men  coming  into  the 
kingdom  by  different  ways.  In  the  vision  of  the  prophet 
the  heavenly  city  had  three  gates  on  the  east,  three  gates  on 
the  west,  three  gates  on  the  north  and  three  gates  on  the 
south,  — all  the  paths  leading  into  the  city;  with  the  man 
coming  from  the  north  meeting  the  man  coming  from  the 
south,  the  man  from  the  east  meeting  the  man  from  the  west, 
all  sitting  down  around  the  center  place  in  the  city  recounting 
their  various  journeys  and  all  loyal  to  the  one  city.  Another 
picture  in  the  book  of  Revelation  is  of  a  great  multi- 
tude which  no  man  could  number,  out  of  every  kindred 
and  people  and  tongue  standing  before  the  Lamb.  The  seer 
cried  to  one  of  the  elders  and  said,  "  Who  are  these  which  are 
arrayed  in  white  robes?  "  And  he  answered,  "  These  are 
they  which  came  out  of  great  tribulation  "  —  all  had  borne 
the  cross  somehow;  every  one  of  these  had  felt  upon  his 
shoulders  the  cross  of  the  Lord  Christ,  and  hence  had  the  right 


12  Religious  Progress  on  the  Pacific  Slope 

to  stand  in  His  presence  day  and  night.  A  picture  of  the 
democracy  that  is  to  be!  Does  the  Christian  rehgion  come  to 
pick  out  a  handful  of  souls  and  carry  them  on  —  a  few  selected 
members  of  humanity  —  as  a  trickling  stream  down  through 
eternity?  Is  that  the  idea  of  Christianity?  No,  not  at  all. 
The  idea  of  Christianity  is  the  salvation  of  men  by  the  city- 
full,  by  the  nation-full,  of  every  kindred  and  people,  a  multitude 
standing  before  the  throne,  a  great  mass  of  self-sacrificing 
humanity,  thrilling  with  power,  sweeping  as  a  sort  of  gulf 
stream  through  the  ages.  It  is  the  vision  of  the  body  of  Christ. 
It  is  a  picture  that  you  and  I,  unfortunately,  never  shall  see 
realized  on  this  earth.  The  times  are  not  ripe  for  it.  But  it 
may  be  that  we  have  had  some  visions  of  it.  I  have  been 
in  audiences,  —  and  so  have  you,  —  when  the  one  spirit  of 
self-sacrificing  devotion  to  the  common  Lord  swept  through 
all  men.  The  man  who  spoke  German,  the  man  who  spoke 
English,  the  man  who  spoke  French,  and  the  man  who  spoke 
in  an  oriental  dialect  —  these  all  felt  the  inspiration  of  the  one 
common  spirit.  Philhps  Brooks  used  to  say  that  now  and 
again  as  he  stood  in  his  place  in  Trinity  Church  in  Boston  and 
preached,  he  would  look  over  the  audience  and  see  looldng  up 
to  him  not  this  individual  face  here  and  that  individual  face 
there,  but  one  common  face;  or  rather,  upon  each  face  there 
was  just  one  common  expression  —  the  expression  of  the 
common  human  need.  Come  back  for  a  moment  to  Abraham 
Lincoln,  if  we  may.  In  talking  about  religion  Lincoln  once 
said:  —  "  I  have  no  sympathy  with  the  kind  of  doctrine  that 
beheves  that  the  Almighty  is  to  pick  out  just  a  few  souls  des- 
tined to  eternal  hfe.  I  have  no  sympathy  with  the  kind  of 
doctrine  that  puts  tests  in  such  a  way  that  the  ordinary  man 
cannot  hope  to  attain  them."  Then,  standing  by  the  mantel 
in  the  old  house  in  Springfield,  he  said:  "  In  this  matter  of 
religion  the  opportunity  must  be  for  all  or  for  none."  That 
man  who  was  an  apostle  of  modern  democracy  stated  a 
foundation  truth  of  rehgion.     The  chance  must  be  for  all  or 


The  Minister  in  a  Democracy  13 

for  none.  And  our  trust  is  that  to  the  preaching  of  this  wide- 
open  kingdom  of  heaven  men  in  great  multitudes  will  one  day- 
respond;  that  the  church  will  be  as  wide  as  humanity  itself. 
We  look  toward  the  dawning  of  a  day  when  men  will  say: 
Because  the  spirit  of  Christ  is  being  realized  here  on  this  earth 
the  government  now  is  not  merely  the  government  of  the 
people,  for  the  people  and  by  the  people,  but  the  government 
is  of  God;  it  is  for  God  and  it  is  through  God,  —  it  is  by  Him, 
the  divine  Spirit  ruling  through  all  things. 

The  minister  must  not  minimize  his  calling.  He  is  not  to 
think  of  himself  as  called  merely  to  go  out  and  hold  such  and 
such  pulpits  and  draw  such  and  such  salaries.  It  is  his  sacred 
function  in  this  day  of  rapid  change,  when  social  currents  are 
moving  with  a  rapidity  the  like  of  which  the  world  has  never 
seen  before,  when  many  men  are  losing  their  bearings,  — 
it  is  his  function  to  see  that  the  masses  of  men  working  out 
their  individual  lives  —  through  the  preaching  of  the  gospel  — 
are  built  into  the  veritable  Body  of  Christ. 

In  the  day  of  spiritual  democracy  the  mountain  of  the 
Lord's  house  shall  be  established  in  the  top  of  the  mountains, 
and  the  people  shall  —  trudge  their  way  into  it?  climb  the  hill? 
No,  not  at  all.  Spiritual  gravitation  shall  be  the  reverse 
of  natural  gravitation.  Habit  shall  turn  toward  righteous- 
ness. The  house  shall  be  established  in  the  top  of  the  moun- 
tain and  the  people  by  reversed  gravitation  shall  easily  and 
naturally  flow  into  it. 


Chapter  II 

WILL  JESUS  SURVIVE? 

John  Hanson  Thomas  Main,  Ph.D.,  LL.D. 
President  of  Grinnell  College 

A  poem  by  Browning  relates  the  story  of  the  medical  experi- 
ence of  Karshish,  the  Arab  physician.  Karshish  is  an  ideal 
scientist,  young  and  enthusiastic,  but  with  a  well-trained 
critical  mind.  He  understands  the  scientific  method  of 
investigation  and  will  not  accept  a  statement  involving 
scientific  principles  without  careful  scrutiny.  This  young 
physician,  after  his  university  course,  is  spending  a  time  in 
travel.  He  goes  to  Jerusalem  and  visits  the  places  around  it. 
He  goes  to  Bethany  and,  we  are  told  by  Browning,  he  meets 
Lazarus  risen  from  the  dead.  This  is  a  situation  directly  in 
conflict  with  all  his  scientific  training.  How  shall  he  treat  it? 
How  shall  he  interpret  the  story  of  the  dead  man  restored  to 
life,  and  how  shall  he  treat  Lazarus  himself?  His  meditation 
on  these  points  is  extremely  interesting  and  illuminating. 
Browning's  fines  represent  the  normal  critical  attitude  of  the 
trained  scientist,  and  at  the  same  time  the  rational  way  of 
viewing  a  problem  that  is  beyond  the  ordinary  processes  of 
scientific  investigation.  Can  the  scientist  believe  the  story? 
Can  he  beheve  that  some  wonder-worker  came  down  to 
Bethany  and  restored  the  life  in  a  man  some  days  dead?  To 
the  scientist  the  whole  thing  seems  absurd,  —  on  the  other 
hand  as  a  man,  can  he  refuse  to  give  some  attention  to  this 
man  Lazarus,  reported  by  his  friends  and  neighbors  to  have 
passed  through  this  most  extraordinary  experience  of  death 
and  restoration  to  life?     The  whole  affair  moves  him  deeply. 

He  decides  to  write  to  his  old  friend  and  teacher  back  at 
the  university,  —  but  how  shall  he  write?     Can  he  say  any- 

14 


Will  Jesus  Survive?  15 

thing  that  will  prove  to  his  old  teacher  that  this  man,  whom 
he  sees  walking  about,  was  dead  and  is  now  alive  again? 
Can  he  write  up  the  situation  in  such  a  way  as  even  to  interest 
his  old  friend?  The  whole  attempt  seems  preposterous.  But 
Karshish  is  wise.  He  will  not  attempt  to  prove  anything. 
He  simply  tells  what  he  sees,  and  reports  what  he  hears  here 
in  the  streets  day  after  day.  This  man  Lazarus,  —  what 
does  he  say  and  do  that  has  interest  in  it?  Karshish  believes 
a  report  about  this  will  interest  his  old  friend  back  in  the 
university.     He  meditates : 

"  Lazarus  doesn't  seem  to  be  a  fraud.  He,  Lazarus,  him- 
self believes  that  he  was  dead  and  he  doesn't  care  whether 
anybody  else  beheves  it  or  not.  He  has  something  in  his 
look  that  seems  to  transcend  human  experience.  He  seems  to 
see  beyond  the  immediate  fact  and  to  give  significance  to  things 
which  ordinary  people  do  not  recognize.  He  sees  prodigious 
import  in  trifling  things  and  he  records  as  trifling  some  things 
that  other  men  regard  as  vastly  significant.  He  eyes  the 
world  now  Hke  a  child.  His  conduct  is  swayed  by  no  selfish 
impulses.  He  loves  both  old  and  young,  the  able  and  weak. 
He  loves  the  birds  and  flowers  of  the  field.  There  is  evidently 
some  tremendous  force  at  work  in  his  Hfe." 

Karshish  is  overwhelmed  by  an  influence  that  radiates  from 
Lazarus.  That  is  something  not  subject  to  investigation. 
It  is  matter  of  consciousness.  It  is  something  that  vindicates 
itself  on  the  spot  and  gives  no  opportunity  for  critical  disputa- 
tion. Men  see  and  hear  and  are  dominated.  Karshish  un- 
consciously, so  it  would  seem,  has  solved  the  mystery  of  Hfe. 
It  is  not  something  to  be  proven  by  witnesses,  by  dogmatists, 
by  philosophers,  or  uncovered  by  the  microscope.  It  is 
something  that  reveals  itself  by  contact  and  relationship. 
Karshish  is  overwhelmed.  He  is  not  far  from  the  kingdom  of 
God. 

Lazarus  walking  about  on  the  streets  is  enough.  Let 
science  do  what  it   will  with  the  tomb  story.     It  doesn't 


16  Religious  Progress  on  the  Pacific  Slope 

matter.  It  is  a  mere  trifle  in  a  luminous  fact.  Today  with 
Lazarus  is  the  significant  thing,  —  nothing  else  is  able  to 
contravene  the  fact.  So  Karshish,  like  the  Master  himself, 
says  in  effect  to  Lazarus  as  he  views  him  on  the  street,  "Loose 
him  and  let  him  go."  Loose  him  from  the  questions  that 
science  suggests  and  let  him  be  free  to  express  as  an  extraordi- 
nary man  might,  his  life  in  terms  of  his  own  choosing. 

A  truly  scientific  method  never  wastes  time  on  non-essentials. 
Karshish,  the  scientist,  neglected  the  so-called  scientific 
method  and  adopted  the  truly  scientific  method.  The  living 
Lazarus  was  more  essential  than  the  questions  about  the 
tomb  and  the  resurrection.  The  tomb  and  the  resurrection 
were  things  of  the  past.  Believe  them  or  not.  It  doesn't 
matter:  Lazarus  is  here.  We  see  him,  we  hear  his  words,  we 
are  profoundly  moved  by  him. 

If  teachers  and  students  of  history  and  theology  could  once 
learn  the  implications  of  this  statement,  there  would  be  a 
rapid  and  wholesome  change  for  the  better  in  the  under- 
standing and  practice  of  the  life  and  teachings  of  the  Christ. 

I  apprehend,  as  did  Karshish,  that  Christ  is  here,  that  He 
is  alive.  Nevertheless  a  great  many  people  adhere  to  the  so- 
called  scientific  method  and  keep  their  minds  first  on  the 
problems  and  difficulties  of  the  physical  resurrection,  when  the 
evident  fact  of  the  living  presence  of  Christ  Himself,  in  spirit, 
is  constantly  revealing  itself  to  men.  How  infinitely  more 
significant  is  this  real  living  presence  here  now  than  any  re- 
assemblage  of  the  material  particles  that  made  up  the  sub- 
stance of  His  body.  Christ  is.  We  know  it  better  than  Mary, 
better  than  the  disciples,  better  than  Paul.  His  death,  the 
tomb.  His  resurrection  as  mere  past  facts  can  have  little 
significance  for  us  as  vindications  of  His  wonderful  power. 
It  is  the  eternal,  present  fact  that  is  supreme. 

The  real  question  now  and  always  is  just  this,  —  can  Christ 
vindicate  Himself  as  supreme  leader,  as  supreme  inspirer,  and 
as  a  dynamic  force  in  the  direction  of  the  kingdom  of  heaven 


Will  Jesus  Survive?  17 

on  earth,  now,  in  the  year  1916?  Nothing  that  has  hap- 
pened two  thousand  years  ago  can  vindicate  Him  in  1916. 
1916  must  secure  a  vindication  for  itself. 

I  am  not  a  student  of  theology.  All  I  know  of  it  is  not 
sufficient  to  bias  my  views  of  Jesus  one  way  or  the  other.  I 
am  not  particularly  interested  in  theology.  I  am,  however,  a 
student  of  Jesus  Christ  and  a  profound  and  reverent  behever 
in  Him  now  as  the  supreme  leader  of  men  and  as  the  greatest 
dynamic  and  heahng  force  at  the  present  moment  in  the 
world.  I  believe  in  Him  as  the  radiant  inspiration  to  love 
and  fellowship,  and  I  believe  in  Him  as  the  expression  of  those 
spiritual  forces  that  will  in  the  "  long  last  "  realize  themselves 
in  the  kingdom  of  heaven.  Jesus  is  here.  Whatever  we  may 
say  about  the  origin  of  Jesus,  His  presence  today  in  the  world 
is  no  myth.  He  is  the  center  today  of  more  discussion  and 
meditation  than  ever  before.  What  does  it  mean?  It  means 
this,  that  if  He  really  belongs  to  the  twentieth  century  and  is 
the  Saviour  for  the  twentieth  century  that  His  spirit  must 
prove  it  in  terms  of  twentieth  century  thinking  and  under 
conditions  of  twentieth  century  progress  and  development. 
We  might  as  well  face  the  facts. 

The  fact  as  assumed  and  absolutely  proved,  if  you  will, 
that  Jesus  rose  from  the  dead  will  not  meet  the  requirements 
of  the  twentieth  century.  The  fact  of  His  death  and  resur- 
rection may  be  the  best  attested  fact  in  all  history,  but  it  is 
(let  us  say  it  reverently)  of  no  value  in  a  discussion  of  the 
principles  underlying  a  labor  strike.  Every  dogma  that  has 
to  do  with  the  birth,  death  and  resurrection,  however  signifi- 
cant and  important  they  are  as  abstract  and  philosophic 
principles  unrelated  to  life,  are  in  no  sense  vital  in  settling  the 
difficulties  of  a  social  conflict  in  the  twentieth  century. 

Let  us  be  frank  with  ourselves.  Will  Jesus  survive?  I 
beheve  with  all  my  heart  that  He  will;  but  it  will  not  be  on 
the  basis  of  first  century  pronouncements  or  on  pronounce- 
ments derived  from  these.     It  will  be  because  we  see  and 


18  Religious  Progress  on  the  Pacific  Slope 

appreciate  practically  the  fact  that  He  has  a  profound  and 
creative  influence  now  in  the  complex  and  weighty  problems 
troubling  society.  His  historical  verity  is  only  incidental, 
the  world  is  full  of  Him  even  if  it  should  be  proved  that  He 
never  lived.  We  can't  in  the  face  of  the  present  facts  deny 
that  He  does  live.  The  historical  verity  is  attested  amply. 
We  assume  that,  of  course.  But  that,  and  merely  that,  will 
help  the  world  no  more  than  the  historical  verity  of  Caesar 
unless,  beyond  and  above  the  fact,  a  spirit  radiates  from  what 
He  said  and  did  that  transcends  His  life,  His  death  and  all  of 
the  other  incidents  of  His  earthly  career.  But  it  does.  Look 
and  see  for  yourself. 

Let  us  go  further.  The  opinion  Jesus  had  of  Himself  will 
not  suffice  to  vindicate  Him  as  a  Saviour  today.  A  recent  book, 
"  What  Jesus  Thought  of  Himself,"  is  at  much  pains  to  prove 
certain  things  by  quoting  words  of  Jesus  Himself  as  the  pri- 
mary authority.  This  is  interesting,  and  as  an  academic  study 
is  quite  worth  while;  but  even  such  a  proof,  however  con- 
clusive, has  little  or  no  bearing  on  the  solution  of  the  great 
problems  now  before  us.  The  book  seeks  to  strengthen  the 
faith  in  Jesus  as  the  Messiah.  Very  well,  we  believe  He  is  the 
Messiah.  But  the  very  fact  that  Jesus  Himself  beheved  it 
will  not  satisfy  the  twentieth-century  man.  If  Jesus  is  the 
Messiah,  He  is  such  today  by  the  day's  findings  in  the  court  of 
human  hearts  and  minds.  But  let  me  say  again  He  does 
prove  it,  if  we  have  eyes  to  see  and  ears  to  hear.  If  Jesus 
proves,  as  I  believe  He  does,  that  He  is  the  symbol  and  ideal 
of  what  life  is  and  may  become,  then  today  is  He  proven  as 
the  Saviour  of  the  race. 

The  eternal  validity  of  Jesus  Christ  will  always  rest  on  the 
inherent  truth  of  His  principles  of  love  and  on  the  possibility 
of  showing  through  these  principles  that  He  is  more  truly 
attested  today  than  yesterday,  and  that  the  evidence  is 
becoming  cumulative,  and  that  tomorrow  He  will  be  surer  of 
recognition  as  the  Saviour  of  the  world  than  today. 


Will  Jesus  Survive?  19 

The  life  and  words  of  Jesus  must  stand  the  scrutiny  of  every 
age  and  must  endure  the  progressive  enlargement  of  human 
wisdom  and  understanding.  They  must  prove  themselves 
eternal  in  the  minds  and  hearts  of  a  growing  human  race. 
They  must,  at  least,  be  as  eternal  as  the  race.  They  must  be 
prophetic  of  the  human  capacity  for  improvement  along  lines 
of  natural  growth  for  untold  years  to  come.  Jesus  must  prove 
himself  as  sovereign  of  people  yet  unborn.  Will  His  life  and 
words  stand  this  test?  They  will.  In  any  event  it  should  be 
understood  that  the  people  of  this  age  who  think  and  act  are 
unalterably  opposed,  as  they  ought  to  be,  to  any  proof  or 
revelation  that  does  not  get  added  vindication  from  the  pro- 
gressive spirit  of  men.  All  the  great  movements  that  are 
going  forward  in  the  scientific  world,  in  the  social  world,  in 
the  political  world,  derive  their  standards  of  action  from  most 
careful  experimental  investigation.  The  world  in  its  various 
departments  advances  on  this  basis.  In  the  face  of  this  fact, 
and  in  the  face  of  a  growing  world  and  a  growing  universe, 
it  is  beyond  belief  that  a  revelation  made  two  thousand  years 
ago  should  remain  untouched  and  sufficient,  and  that  the 
pronouncements  made  then  should  hold  unchallenged  without 
additional  confirmation  the  attention  of  men,  I  have  no 
desire  to  enter  into  a  discussion  of  these  pronouncements. 
To  do  so  would  be  far  afield  from  my  purpose.  Let  us  assume 
that  they  do  remain  secure  as  settled  statements  of  fact  or 
behef.  Nevertheless  they  are  not,  and  I  wish  to  say  it  with 
all  possible  emphasis,  adequate  to  inspire  and  renew  the  life 
and  ideals  of  men  today.  Today  must  have  its  own  satisfac- 
tion, its  own  convictions,  and  its  own  interpretations  of  the 
facts  of  life.  We  ought  to  rejoice  that  Christ's  spirit  is  too 
big  to  rest  itself  on  a  foundatibn  of  doctrines  made  by  the  men 
of  the  first  century  or  the  nineteenth  century.  This  is  the 
twentieth  century.  Any  attempt  to  prove  Christ  by  histori- 
cal documents  is  just  as  if  we  were  to  try  to  prove  the  law  of 
gravitation  by  historical  documents.     What  is  the  use?     He 


20  Religious  Progress  on  the  Pacific  Slope 

who  bases  his  behef  on  a  formulation  made  in  the  past  is  in 
danger  of  losing  his  religion  just  as  the  man  is  sure  to  lose  his 
chemistry  or  zoology  if  he  bases  it  on  a  group  of  facts  held 
years  ago.  Nothing  in  this  universe  so  far  as  we  know  is 
static  —  least  of  all  that  most  alive  man  of  all  the  ages,  Jesus 
Christ.  The  fundamental  sin  against  Him,  the  repetition 
through  the  years  of  His  crucifixion,  is  the  assumption  of  any 
group  of  men,  of  any  church,  of  any  society,  that  He  was 
"  proven  "  once  for  all  some  centuries  ago,  and  that  all  we 
can  say  about  Him  as  the  central  person  in  the  Christian  system 
was  said,  and  said  in  final  form,  long  ago.  If  this  be  true 
Christ  will  not  survive.  If  this  be  true  He  is  already  a  rehc 
of  a  bygone  time.  But  it  is  not  true.  We  rejoice  that  it  is 
not  true.  The  central  fact  of  Christianity  is  not  the  Christ  of 
the  first  century,  but  the  living  Christ  of  the  twentieth  cen- 
tury; the  Christ  beyond  the  reach  of  limitations  or  defini- 
tions; the  Christ  doing  today  just  as  He  did  then.  He  went 
about  doing  good;  He  is  doing  it  still.  We  need  to  remember 
that  Christ  antedates  dogma  and  the  church. 

The  death  and  burial  may  well  be  regarded  as  symbolic 
of  the  burial  we  impose  on  Him  by  our  interpretations.  We 
bind  Him  hand  and  foot  again  and  again  through  the  ages. 
We  put  Him  in  a  tomb  as  they  of  the  crucifixion  day  did. 
After  the  tragedy  on  Calvary  we  roll  up  a  stone,  and  put  a 
seal  on  it,  and  set  guards  over  it.  We  do  all  of  these  things 
over  and  over  again;  but  Jesus  today,  just  as  then,  is  always 
breaking  out  and  renewing  His  life;  and  He  always  will.  He 
is  alive;  and  that  is  why  He  belongs  to  us  of  today  and  will 
belong  to  those  of  tomorrow.  The  church,  the  creed,  the  so- 
ciety that  attempts  to  bind  Him  and  define  Him,  is  sowing  the 
seeds  of  its  disintegration. 

We  might  do  no  better  than  to  begin  again  with  Jesus  that 
day  when  He  left  the  carpenter  shop  and  went  down  to  the 
sea.  He  met  some  fishermen  down  there.  Let  us  ask  our- 
selves, in  all  seriousness,  what  was  the  timeless  and  eternal 


Will  Jesus  Survive?  21 

quality  in  this  meeting  with  the  fishermen?  So  far  as  we 
know,  Jesus  said  nothing  about  Himself,  gave  no  recommenda- 
tions, gave  no  assurance  that  He  was  a  person  more  than  the 
ordinary,  gave  no  argument  whatever  as  to  a  future  means  of 
livelihood.  He  simply  said,  —  Come  with  me  and  we  shall  be 
fishers  of  men.  They  went.  I  suppose  if  we  ever  get  close 
to  Jesus  we  shall  be  obhged  to  do  the  same  thing.  I  suppose 
we  shall  be  obliged  to  forget,  for  the  time  being,  the  problems 
of  His  birth,  death  and  resurrection,  and  go  along  with  Him 
and  be  fishers  of  men.  This  is  the  elemental  motive  bound  up 
with  the  whole  life  and  spirit  of  Jesus  Christ.  You  can  never 
get  beyond  it  or  eliminate  it  by  any  formulation  of  doctrine. 
You  may  believe  what  you  will  about  His  divinity,  about  His 
birth,  but  no  belief  about  them  will  ever  transcend  the  con- 
viction that  comes  with  fellowship.  The  heart  and  its  yearn- 
ings expressed  in  fellowship  and  service  are  larger  than 
demonstrations.  Christ  satisfied  the  hearts  of  these  men. 
The  problems  of  the  intellect  were  ignored.  They  had  no 
place  in  the  fundamental  issue  involved  in  a  life  dominated 
by  Christ. 

I  do  not  mean  that  the  intellect  is  to  be  overlooked.  Of 
course  it  is  not  to  be  overlooked.  But  the  normal  method  of 
Christ,  the  primary  method  of  Christ,  is  not  by  way  of  the 
intellect.  It  is  first  by  way  of  the  heart.  Christ  could 
(possibly)  get  along  without  the  intellect.  He  cannot  get 
along  without  the  heart,  and  the  will  to  serve.  Christ  began 
with  the  universal  —  the  heart  —  and  His  permanence 
depends  on  the  universal.  We  must  recognize  Christ  on  this 
basis;  we  must  vindicate  Him  on  this  basis.  If  He  were  to 
come  today  released  from  all  the  Aherglauhe,  released  from 
all  the  mystery  and  tradition  that  have  come  down  to  us 
through  the  years  —  if  this  were  conceivable  —  first  of  all,  we 
should  have  to  consider  Him  in  His  eternal  aspects,  in  those 
elements  of  human  value  that  we  recognize  as  belonging  to  all 
life  without  regard  to  race  or  time,  —  elements  that  are  not 


22  Religious  Progress  on  the  Pacific  Slope 

accidental  or  miraculous,  or  any  more  so  than  the  miraculous 
things  of  our  own  common  life  itself.  Approaching  Him  in 
this  way  we  would  come  to  love  Him  as  the  fishermen  did,  and 
as  we  may  suppose  the  little  children  did,  for  He  took  them  in 
His  arms. 

If  Jesus  were  to  come  to  us  today  and  were  to  tell  us  that 
He  came  to  reveal  life,  we  should  expect  Him  to  explain  life 
and  deal  with  its  problems  in  terms  which  we  could  at  least 
dimly  understand  and  appreciate.  If  He  were  to  come  to  us 
today,  in  all  probability  He  would  follow  the  method  He 
followed  two  thousand  years  ago.  He  wouldn't  tell  us  any- 
thing about  religion.  He  wouldn't  use  the  word  at  all,  but  He 
would  talk  in  terms  of  life.  He  wouldn't  tell  us  anything 
about  God:  He  would  simply  speak  of  Him  as  "  Our  Father." 
He  would  have  now,  just  as  then,  the  eager  hope  that  we  might 
understand  that  life  is  religion,  —  hfe  as  He  lived  it  and 
interpreted  it.  He  wouldn't  lose  Himself  in  discussing  prob- 
lems; He  wouldn't  attempt  definitions.  He  stated  principles; 
related  them  to  human  need.  He  would  do  only  those  things 
that  draw  men  into  relationship,  and  into  eagerness  for  a 
larger  life.  Of  course  in  doing  this  he  would  excite  tremendous 
opposition,  for  the  large  is  always  opposed  by  the  small,  the 
true  by  the  false,  the  good  by  the  less  good. 

The  second  coming  of  Christ,  of  which  so  much  has  been 
made,  is  an  established  fact.  It  isn't  something  that  is  going 
to  happen;  it's  something  that  is  always  happening.  It  is  not 
an  event.  It  never  will  be  an  event.  It  is  a  progression. 
Christ  is  new  every  morning  like  the  sun;  and  His  dynamic 
influence  in  great  human  movements  is  just  as  evident,  if 
we  have  eyes  to  see,  as  the  influence  of  the  sun  in  the  natural 
world.  His  second  coming  is  dependent  on  us  just  as  the 
fruitage  coming  from  the  sun's  rays  is  the  result  of  our  adapta- 
tions of  means  to  ends.  Christ  lives.  Whether  He  lives  for 
us  and  for  our  time  is  largely  our  affair. 

When  men  have  been  convinced  of  the  misinterpretations 


Will  Jesus  Survive?  23 

of  organized  Christianity  under  which  they  have  Hved,  they 
have  usually  tried  to  return  to  the  true  and  pure  Christian- 
ity, through  contemplation  of  the  words  and  acts  of  Christ. 
This  is  not  the  truest  method  of  returning,  —  this  alone 
is  not.     One  cannot  through  meditation  and  prayer  and  study 
of  the  Bible  find  Christ  in  any  vital  sense,  for  Christ  is  not  an 
isolated  person  in  this  universe.     He  is  not  detached  from  the 
laws  and  conditions  of  hfe.     He  is  a  personality  working  in 
Hfe  and  to  find  Him  we  must  look  into  the  hfe  of  today.     It 
may  seem  paradoxical  to  say  that  He  is  more  in  the  life  of 
today  than  in  the  book  that  records  His  sayings  and  doings, 
but  it  is  absolutely  true.     This  does  not  mean  that  His  spirit 
is  dominating  in  all  or  most  of  what  is  going  on  in  the  world 
today.     This  is  far  from  being  true.     It  means  the  same  that  it 
would  mean  to  say  that  we  can  understand  the  apphcation  of 
electricity  to  the  needs  of  human  hfe  better  by  studying  the 
apphances  of  today  than  by  studying  those  worked  out  by 
Faraday.     Christianity  interpreted  the  spirit  of  true  Hving  in 
terms  that  are  eternal.     They  are  not  mystic  principles  that 
require   elaborate   investigation   to   discover.     They   are   so 
simple  that  a  child  can  approach  an  understanding  of  them. 
The  mystery,  the  problem,  is  their  application  to  life;   their 
translation  into  terms  of  present-day  needs  and  present-day 
difficulties.     It  has  been  a  terrible  mistake  for  the  church  or 
any  of  its  representatives,  to  say  that  all  that  the  world  needs 
is  the  change  of  heart  that  the  love  of  Christ  brings.     This 
itself  has  led  to  the  divorce  of  practical  life  from  rehgious  life, 
for  men  have  felt  the  necessity  of  attacking  the  problems  of 
practical  life  with  the  keenest  of  endeavor  and  most  unremit- 
ting effort.     Rehgion  has  been  treated  as  an  open  sesame  of 
life  requiring  no  such  vigorous  effort,  and  consequently  hfe 
has  sought  two  distinct  aims  instead  of  one.     We  would  not 
minimize  the  need  of  the  change  of  heart  through  Christ's 
life  or  the  need  of  His  hfe  as  a  pattern  for  ours,  but  these  two 
things  are  only  the  beginning,  not  the  end,  of  the  religious  life. 


24  Religious  Progress  on  the  Pacific  Slope 

They  are  only  the  seed,  not  the  fulfillment.  Christ's  love  must 
be  in  us.  We  must  know  the  simple  story  of  His  life.  Then 
we  must  give  all  the  energy  of  brain  and  will,  all  the  vigorous 
intelligence  and  insight  that  we  can  possibly  command,  all  the 
trained  powers  that  we  can  give,  to  the  study  of  the  life  of 
today  and  to  the  surmounting  of  its  tremendous  and  complex 
difficulties. 

It  is  strange  that  men  have  thought  that  Christ  was  in  the 
world  two  thousand  years  ago  more  than  He  is  today.  No 
stranger  misconception  could  possibly  be  conceived.  It  is 
strange  that  some  of  them  still  think  that  the  primary  prepara- 
tion for  the  Christian  ministry  is  by  antiquarian  research  and 
by  mystic  contemplation.  It  is  this,  and  this  especially,  that 
has  tended  to  weaken  the  hold  of  the  church  on  modern  life. 
It  is  this  more  than  any  other  one  thing  that  has  tended  to 
make  the  labor  unions  so  distrustful  of  religion.  It  is  this 
more  than  anything  else  that  has  made  religion  unable  to 
leaven  more  adequately  the  magnificent  structure  of  modern 
business.  It  is  this  more  than  anything  else  that  has  made 
many  of  us  trust  a  sentimental  pacifism  more  than  a  vigorous 
and  intelligent  attack  on  the  problems  of  international  diplo- 
macy as  a  method  of  preventing  war.  It  is  this  more  than  any- 
thing else  that  has  made  the  college  student  feel  that  he  is 
serving  God  when  he  goes  to  church  or  when  he  takes  a  class 
in  a  settlement,  but  is  devoting  himself  to  his  own  ends  when 
he  is  mastering  a  problem  of  economics  or  carrying  on  an 
experiment  in  the  chemical  laboratory.  It  is  this  that  makes 
a  business  man's  personal  benevolences  a  larger  factor  in 
determining  his  influence  and  position  in  most  of  our  churches 
than  his  political  integrity  towards  the  great  problems  of 
labor  and  capital.  It  is  this  that  makes  us  regard  the  estab- 
lishing of  classes  for  Bible  study  as  a  normal  function  of  rehg- 
ious  education,  when  only  in  the  rarest  cases  has  it  occurred 
to  us  that  it  would  be  a  Christian  activity  to  promote  directly 
the  study  of  government  and  business. 


Will  Jesus  Survive?  25 

Religion  has  lost  vitally  because  it  has  become  so  largely 
the  grinding  of  an  empty  hopper;  because  it  has  been  moving 
in  a  circle;  because  it  has  devoted  all  of  its  energy  to  preparing 
the  instruments  of  life  and  little  or  none  to  the  task  of  learning 
to  use  them.  It  is  as  if  a  man  who  aspired  to  be  an  author 
were  to  devote  the  primary  energy  of  his  life  to  making  a 
good  pen,  and  keeping  it  in  condition  without  even  going  far 
enough  to  learn  the  written  alphabet.  We  sometimes  wonder 
that  practical  men  keep  aloof  from  the  church.  The  reasons 
are  clear.  We  have  regarded  the  religion  of  life  as  historical 
instead  of  prophetic.  We  have  regarded  it  as  a  thing  achieved 
instead  of  a  thing  in  the  making.  We  have  tied  up  our  lives 
into  formulas  instead  of  venturing  into  the  unknown.  We 
have  lacked  faith  in  hfe  and  pinned  life  to  systems.  We  have 
lacked  faith  in  men  and  given  our  faith  to  ideals.  We  have  re- 
garded righteousness  as  the  end  of  hfe  instead  of  life  as  the 
end  of  righteousness. 

Men  never  have  been  willing  to  shoulder  the  responsibihties 
which  Christianity  entails.  They  have  wanted  Christianity 
to  shoulder  them.  They  have  regarded  it  as  a  refuge,  as  a  com- 
fort, as  a  rehef  from  responsibility.  They  have  incorporated 
this  dislike  of  responsibilities  into  institutions  so  that  the 
individual  might  follow  the  dictates  of  some  pope,  some 
priest,  some  book,  some  mystic  power.  Christianity  has 
been  treated  as  a  religion  of  weakness,  not  of  strength.  Even 
so  inspiring  a  man  as  Cardinal  Newman  took  refuge  in  Cathol- 
icism from  the  responsibilities  of  solving  his  own  problems; 
—  but  Christ  did  not  teach  any  such  doctrine  for  weakhngs. 
He  did  bring  rehef  for  the  suffering,  rest  for  the  weary,  cheer 
for  the  downcast,  but  it  was  not  by  assuming  their  problems 
and  their  tasks.  It  was  by  giving  them  strength  to  do  their 
own  tasks,  and  by  giving  them  courage  to  attack  their  own 
problems.  Christ's  hfe  is  nothing  if  not  heroic.  It  was  a 
joyous  heroism  because  it  was  a  heroism  of  faith.  It  was 
a  joyous  heroism  because  it  was  prophetic.     It  was  a  joyous 


26  Religious  Progress  on  the  Pacific  Slope 

heroism  because  it  looked  to  the  future.  Men  do  not  really 
find  happiness  in  dependence.  They  do  not  find  real  satisfac- 
tion in  having  their  problems  solved  for  them.  They  do  not 
really  love  to  be  weak  rather  than  strong.  The  real  joy  of 
life  is  the  joy  of  achievement.  The  real  joy  of  life  is  the  joy 
of  conflict.  The  real  joy  of  life  is  the  joy  of  power,  the  power 
that  has  meaning.  Men  have  turned  from  Christianity 
to  business,  to  war,  to  politics  as  more  satisfying  because  of 
their  instinct  for  struggle.  And  they  have  found  in  business, 
in  politics,  in  war  something  vastly  more  satisfying  and  more 
wholesome  than  a  contemplative  or  a  sentimental  religion. 
But  they  might,  if  they  would,  have  found  a  mightier  joy, 
a  more  satisfying  achievement  in  business  that  had  a  human 
motivation  instead  of  a  mere  piling  up  of  balances.  They 
would  have  found  a  great  or  more  wholesome  life  in  politics 
that  was  bent  on  saving  life  instead  of  one  that  was  merely  a 
competitive  game.  They  might  have  found  all  that  makes 
war  appealing  and  all  that  makes  it  thrilling  to  the  mind  and 
heart,  in  an  heroic  and  experimental  search  for  the  methods  of 
co-operation  between  nations. 

The  world  has  enough  of  the  spirit  of  Christianity  latent, 
unrealized,  to  solve  many  of  the  distressing  problems  of  today 
if  this  spirit  might  be  realized  and  directed  by  adequate  intel- 
ligence and  filled  by  an  achieving  will.  But  without  the  ade- 
quate intelUgence  and  the  energy  it  seems  but  a  stagnant  pool 
of  sentiment.  The  world  has  in  it  enough  intelhgence  and 
enough  energetic  a.ction  to  save  untold  millions  from  needless 
and  useless  suffering  if  only  this  intelligence  and  this  action 
had  the  motivation  of  a  genuine  love  for  men.  Without  this 
motivation  it  loses  itself  in  a  futile  culture  of  a  soulless  ma- 
terialism. It  is  the  greatest  tragedy  of  life  that  these  things 
cannot  be  more  effectively  brought  together.  It  certainly 
will  be  one  great  step  in  advance  if  the  church  can  be  brought 
to  realize  that  it  is  its  task  to  study  the  life  of  today,  to  know 
its  currents  and  forces;  to  find  Christ  in  business  and  to  realize 


Will  Jesus  Survive?  27 

Him  there;  to  find  Christ  in  pohtics  and  to  reahze  Him  there; 
to  find  Christ  in  industry  and  to  reahze  Him  there. 

We  think  we  have  escaped  a  cloistered  rehgion.  We  have 
not.  Our  rehgion  is  still  filled  with  mediaevalism,  as  is  our 
ethics. 

We  treat  Christianity  as  if  it  contained  a  principle  of  life 
that  was  authoritative  and  we  apply  it  to  life  where  we  can 
or  where  it  is  convenient  to  apply  it,  —  but  life  is  the  primary 
and  authoritative  thing.  From  life  and  from  life  alone  Chris- 
tianity gets  its  sanction.  Indeed,  respect  for  life  is  the  root, 
the  primary  root  of  Christianity  itself.  No  religious  dogma, 
no  ethical  precept  has  authority  over  hfe.  They  all  get  their 
sanction  from  hfe.  If  it  is  not  practical,  so  much  the  worse  for 
Christianity.  If  it  is  not  practical,  hfe  will  reject  it  and  ought 
to  reject  it.  Christianity  will  not  and  ought  not  to  live  through 
the  sanction  of  a  few  selected  spirits,  who  live  above  the  cur- 
rents of  hfe.  It  is  the  glory  of  Christianity  that  it  is  practical. 
Whenever  it  has  been  tried  it  has  been  proven  so. 

When  we  consider  Jesus  and  who  He  is,  it  seems  useless  to 
ask  the  question:  Will  He  survive?  He  will  survive.  But 
many  of  the  things  we  say  about  Him  will  pass  and  ought  to 
pass.  Jesus  will  survive  in  spite  of  the  treatment  we  give 
Him,  in  spite  of  our  neglect  of  the  essential  qualities  of  His 
nature,  appeahng  as  they  do  to  the  universal  in  humanity. 
The  real  question  for  men  to  ask  themselves  is  this:  Shall 
Christ  survive?  Do  we  want  Him  to  survive?  There  is 
dynamic  quality  enough  in  Jesus  to  make  Him  the  center  of 
everlasting  light  —  light  to  which  men  will  look  and  wonder. 
But  this  is  not  enough.  Shall  Christ  be  realized  in  human 
society?  Human  society  wants  Him;  human  society  needs 
Him.  Is  there  enough  vital  energy  in  the  race  to  reincarnate 
Him?  There  is.  It  is  not  easy;  but  it  is  essential.  In- 
carnation in  Jesus  implies  it  in  the  race.  To  recognize  with 
some  appreciation  a  supreme  manifestation  in  One,  we  must 
compare  it  with  similar,  if  less  conspicuous  manifestations,  in 


28  Religious  Progress  on  the  Pacific  Slope 

others.  For  a  mountain  peak  to  be  highest  in  the  range,  the 
range  must  be  there. 

Shall  we  survive?  Yes,  if  in  addition  to  the  individual 
incarnation  of  Jesus  in  ourselves,  we  bear  witness  to  the  great 
facts  of  His  life.  We  must  bring  His  permanent  and  universal 
spirit  into  practical  and  aggressive  relation  to  the  movements 
of  the  hour.  We  must  realize  that  this  universe  is  not  static, 
that  God  is  not  static.  We  must  realize  that  God  is  a  Process, 
a  Purpose,  and  that  the  spirit  of  Christ  which  is  our  real  revela- 
tion of  God,  in  order  to  be  a  permanent  thing  must  through  us 
become  related  anew  every  day  to  life  in  its  onward  move- 
ments. Shall  we  have  progress  towards  perfection?  Shall 
Christ  survive?     Yes!     If  we  so  wUl  it. 

A  recent  writer  in  discussing  the  permanency  and  uni- 
versality of  Jesus  takes  an  adverse  view  on  the  ground  that 
Jesus  Himself  did  not  entertain  the  idea  of  universality. 
This  has  no  bearing  on  the  question.  Christ  had  no  specific 
program.  He  came  to  give  life  and  to  announce  by  word 
and  deed  some  principles  of  life  which  because  of  their  es- 
sentially human  character  belong  not  to  any  time,  but  to  all 
time;  not  to  any  race,  but  to  all  races.  We  assume  that  He 
did  not  know  of  the  new  world  America;  that  He  did  not  know 
of  an  old  world  China.  He  was  ignorant  of  modern  geography 
and  of  modern  science;  but  these  facts  are  without  any 
relevancy  as  to  the  fundamental  bearing  of  His  teaching 
as  to  their  fundamental  and  eternal  validity.  He  says  Him- 
self, "  The  kingdom  of  heaven  is  like  a  grain  of  mustard,  which 
a  man  took  and  sowed  in  his  field,  which  indeed  is  the  least  of 
all  seeds,  but  when  it  is  grown,  it  is  the  greatest  among  herbs 
and  becometh  a  tree  so  that  the  birds  of  the  air  come  and  lodge 
in  the  branches  thereof."  This  is  Christ's  gospel.  What 
though  He  be  a  babe  of  the  manger;  what  though  He  be  a 
carpenter  of  Nazareth;  and  what  though  He  were  put  to  death 
as  a  disturber  of  the  peace!  Nevertheless  He  has  changed  the 
course  of  human  history.  He  has  won  to  His  cause  a  great 


Will  Jesus  Survive?  29 

part  of  the  world's  people,  He  has  been  a  creative  influence 
in  great  characters  and  in  great  movements  for  two  thousand 
years.  What  shall  we  say?  It  isn't  what  Jesus  thought 
regarding  this  matter.  Let  us  assume  this.  It  only  matters 
that  His  thoughts  about  life  and  love  and  service  are  big 
enough  to  arrest,  dominate  and  inspire  the  world.  They  do 
inspire  the  world. 

The  momentum  of  the  world  is  such  now,  regardless  of  past 
misconceptions  and  outworn  theories  about  Jesus,  that  it  will 
go  on  in  the  line  of  His  hfe  with  an  ever  accelerated  motion. 
It  is  irresistible.  The  arguments  pro  and  con  are  Kke  the  small 
dust  in  the  balance.     They  are  nothing. 

The  people  who  venture  to  see  evidences  that  Christ  will 
not  survive  are  those  who  create  a  Christ  out  of  their  own 
limited  understanding,  and  so  conclude  that  He  is  not  great 
enough  to  win  and  hold  the  devotion  of  mankind  through  the 
ages.  The  Christ  reduced  to  the  dimensions  of  this  kind  of 
interpretation  of  course  will  not  survive.  History  gives 
sufficient  proof  of  this.  We  have  not  had  the  last  of  such 
interpretations.  Nevertheless  Christ  Himself  goes  on  as 
steadily,  as  surely  and  oftentimes  as  unconsciously  through  the 
world  of  men  and  nations,  as  the  procession  of  the  equinoxes 
through  the  heavens. 

Those  who  have  described  Jesus  as  non-resistant  have 
utterly  failed  to  recognize  the  eternal  quality  of  His  character 
and  the  eternal  quality  of  righteousness.  Jesus  is  irresistible. 
I  mean  He  is  an  irresistible  force.  It  may  be  as  silent  as  the 
stars.  His  method  of  dealing  with  the  incident  of  a  moment, 
or  the  episode  of  a  day,  or  the  tragedy  of  His  crucifixion, 
furnishes  no  criterion  for  a  universal  conclusion  one  way  or  the 
other.  The  spirit  of  Jesus  Christ  is  a  sword.  The  spirit  of 
Jesus  Christ  is  peace.  There  is  no  contradiction  between 
these  two  statements.  Righteousness  is  peace;  but  righteous- 
ness is  always  in  conflict  with  unrighteousness.  He  said, 
"  My  peace  I  give  unto  you."     He  also  said,  "  I  came  not  to 


30  Religious  Progress  on  the  Pacific  Slope 

bring  peace,  but  a  sword."  He  also  made  it  clear  that  those 
who  didn't  love  the  eternal  values  of  life,  as  illustrated  in 
Him,  more  than  father,  or  mother,  or  kindred,  had  no  place 
with  Him.  Of  course  the  sword  is  not  always  in  action. 
Sometimes  it  is  to  be  put  away.  There  may  be  a  better 
method.  But  the  spirit  of  Jesus  —  the  spirit  of  right  living, 
of  fellowship,  of  love,  of  the  golden  rule  —  is  always  a  chal- 
lenge. It  always  will  be  as  long  as  unrighteousness,  selfish- 
ness and  unfair  dealing  exist.  This  is  a  fact  implicit  in  human 
life.  Order  is  the  end  of  existence.  It  must  overcome  dis- 
order.    It  can't  do  it  always  by  quietness  and  surrender. 

Jesus  on  Calvary  is  the  ultimate  challenge  of  man  —  alone 
—  in  the  face  of  principalities  and  powers;  the  ultimate  as- 
sertion of  the  supreme  worth  of  man;  the  ultimate  proof  of  the 
majesty  of  man's  soul,  and  its  eternal  worth  as  compared  with 
all  the  powers  the  world  could  array  against  it.  Here,  on 
Calvary,  is  illustrated  the  super-resistance  of  the  sovereign 
who  speaks  to  the  centuries  and  to  the  millions  yet  to  come. 
I  do  not  know  what  you  think  of  the  crucifixion.  I  do  not 
venture  to  explain  it.  But  I  do  know  that  the  world  has  ac- 
cepted, in  its  inner  soul,  the  pronouncement  of  Calvary. 
It  is  fighting  its  course  in  the  myriad  ways  of  struggle  to  a 
fuller  reahzation  of  its  meaning.  In  the  history  of  the  race 
this  triumph  of  Christ  on  the  cross  happened  just  yesterday, 
just  a  moment  ago.  Tomorrow,  a  thousand  years  or  two 
thousand  years  hence,  it  will  dominate  men  more  truly  than 
it  does  today. 

Jesus  will  survive  because  He  prophesies  man's  ultimate 
victory  and  outlines  the  method  of  victory.  It  may  now  be 
the  method  of  the  cross.  It  may  now  be  struggle;  but  this  is 
sure,  it  will  always  be  militant  whether  it  be  in  terms  of  peace 
or  in  terms  of  the  sword.  Otherwise  it  would  be  out  of  har- 
mony with  God's  universe.  It  is  onward,  insistently  onward 
against  and  through  all  that  would  stand  in  its  way. 

Christ's  Ufe  is  a  life  of  valor,  of  faith,  of  a  grasp  of  the 


Will  Jesus  Survive?  31 

eternal  foundations  of  the  human  spirit.  It  is  full  of  daring; 
and  it  has  given  daring  and  courage  and  faith  to  unnumbered 
multitudes  of  men.  The  true  followers  of  Jesus  are  men  who 
have  held  their  lives  of  little  account  in  comparison  with  the 
end  to  be  achieved;  to  give  greater  value,  in  the  life  of  men, 
to  the  genuine  spirit  of  Christ.  If  we  are  to  discharge  our 
obligations  to  the  Christ  we  must  ask  a  fuller  understanding 
of  the  peace  of  Christ  and  of  the  sword  of  His  spirit. 

Christ  will  survive;  but  our  responsibilities  as  partners  in 
the  process  are  getting  greater  all  the  while.  We  must  cease 
to  commit  ourselves  to  the  error  that  His  safety  is  identified 
with  the  safety  of  any  establishment,  of  any  organization,  of 
any  formulation  of  doctrine.  They  are  all  dependent  upon 
Christ.  Christ  is  not  dependent  upon  them.  The  identifica- 
tion of  Christ  with  any  fixed  creed  is  sure  to  result  in  disaster. 
Any  creed  or  church  that  wishes  to  keep  within  sight  of  Jesus 
must  have  in  it  the  vital  force  of  a  living  body  and  must  recog- 
nize its  value  as  residing  in  its  capacity  to  follow  Christ  as 
His  spirit  reveals  itself  and  becomes  aggressive  in  social, 
political  and  international  movements. 

There  is  no  such  thing  as  a  Christian  nation  in  the  full  sense 
of  that  term.  There  is  no  such  thing  as  a  Christian  church 
except  in  a  qualified  sense.  No  more  can  this  be  said  of  a 
nation,  or  of  a  church,  than  it  can  be  said  that  there  is  a  per- 
fect man,  or  a  perfect  system,  or  a  perfect  army.  The  desire 
to  approach  perfection  is  the  elemental  glory  of  the  human 
spirit.  These  words  may  seem  commonplaces  to  those  who 
are  before  me.  Nevertheless  these  are  the  great  facts  to  be 
emphasized,  if  the  man  Christ  is  to  have  a  larger  and  truer 
following  in  coming  years. 

Men  do  not  see;  men  do  not  understand.  Thousands  are 
saying  today  that  Christ  is  a  failure  because  "  Christian  na- 
tions "  are  at  war.  It  would  be  just  as  reasonable  to  call 
gravitation  a  failure  because  airships  cross  the  English  Chan- 
nel, or  because  high-power  guns  resist  gravitation  and  throw 


32  Religious  Progress  on  the  Pacific  Slope 

shells  twenty  miles.  The  resistance  to  the  eternal  laws  of 
life  and  nature  is  always  to  be  reckoned  upon.  The  thing 
for  us  to  observe,  is  that  we  must  see  the  eternal  progress, 
not  merely  the  resisting  power  of  the  moment,  or  of  the  year, 
or  of  the  generation.  We  must  see  the  leader  ahead,  far 
ahead  though  he  be,  and  not  be  lost  in  the  heterogeneous 
crowd  of  his  reluctant  followers  behind. 

"  Jesus  is  the  way,  the  truth  and  the  life."  This  means  also 
that  Jesus  is  religion,  though  He  never  said  it.  We  are 
justified  in  identifying  Jesus  and  life,  and  life,  as  Jesus  means 
it,  is  religion.  Jesus  was  a  prophet.  Jesus  is  a  prophet. 
His  public  life,  a  brief  two  or  three  years,  is  a  prophecy  of 
human  worth  and  human  victory.  It  is  a  challenge  in  the 
face  of  all  the  world.  It  is  a  challenge  that  will  never  end  as 
long  as  there  are  men  in  the  world.  His  prophecy  today 
has  greater  assurance  than  it  has  ever  had  in  the  past. 
We  know  it  is  sure  because  we  see  new  revelations  of  its 
truth  every  day.  The  prophecy  of  Jesus'  life  is  radiant  with 
hope,  faith  and  the  love  of  men.  There  are  great  deeps  of 
promise  in  it  as  yet  unfathomed.  Nevertheless  men's  intui- 
tion of  them  is  that  they  are  true.  Jesus  is  still  in  the 
radiant  morning  of  His  power  and  of  His  recreating  greatness. 
Jesus  will  survive,  because  Jesus  is  life. 

The  babe  of  Bethlehem  epitomized  the  spirit  of  God,  the 
Father  of  all.  Life  will  always  be  a  prophecy  to  be  solved. 
After  two  thousand  years  Jesus  is  still  unknown.  His  mea- 
sure has  never  been  taken.  To  test  Jesus  in  the  light  of  the 
every-day,  to  vindicate  Him  as  the  world  leader,  will  always 
be  the  work  of  the  future.  His  gospel  is  like  the  leaven  which 
a  woman  took  and  hid  in  three  measures  of  meal,  till  the  whole 
was  leavened.  When  will  this  revelation  be  finished?  To- 
day?   Tomorrow?    It  is  endless.     Its  measure  is  eternity. 


Chapter  III 

CHRISTIAN  LEADERSHIP 

Rev.  Frank  Knight  Sanders,  D.D.,  LL.D. 
Director  of  the  Board  of  Missionary  Preparation,  New  York 

When  our  Lord  said,  "  I,  if  I  be  lifted  up,  will  draw  all  men 
unto  me,"  he  bore  immortal  testimony  to  the  permanent, 
attractive  and  educational  power  of  an  embodied  ideal. 
If  the  ideal  be  a  real  one  and  if  it  is  genuinely  embodied,  men 
will  be  loyal  to  it  with  enthusiastic  gladness.  They  are 
naturally  hero-worshipers  and  freely  follow  those  who  truly 
represent  some  definite  standardizing  of  life.  They  will  even 
attribute  many  good  quahties  by  inference  to  those  of  whose 
occasional  strong  quahties  they  have  reason  to  be  proud. 
Men  are  prone  to  ideahze  and  even  to  be  extravagant  in  their 
loyalty  to  those  whom  they  admire,  but  never  without  some 
apprehended  basis  on  which  to  rest  that  emotion.  We  not 
infrequently  hear  a  captious  historian  speak  of  the  Washing- 
ton or  Lincoln  legend,  but  the  fond  memories  of  men  have 
gathered  round  about  these  national  heroes  a  certain  halo 
only  because  the  real  Washington  and  the  martyr-president 
were  greatly  serviceable. 

Leadership  is  the  real,  God-given  method  of  advancing 
mankind  to  higher  stages  of  development.  The  natural  con- 
servatism of  mankind,  its  persistent  inertia,  seems  to  demand 
the  appeal  of  one  who  exhibits  the  values  and  voices  the  need 
of  some  sort  of  betterment.  Professor  Fisher  of  Yale  is 
of  more  value  as  a  leader  in  the  modern  organized  campaign 
for  better  hygiene  in  our  homes  and  lives  because  of  his  own 
successful  struggle  for  rugged  health  against  tubercular  ravages 
many  years  ago.     He  is  a  sort  of  "  Exhibit  A." 

Christian  leadership  is  peculiarly  significant  because  it  is  a 

33 


34  Religious  Progress  on  the  Pacific  Slope 

moral  and  spiritual  movement,  an  advancement  by  fine  ideals. 
The  Christian  leader  may  not  be  financially  keen,  or  philo- 
sophically profound,  but  he  is  spiritually  and  morally  alert 
and  sound.  Christian  leadership  makes  serious  demands 
upon  those  whom  it  recognizes  as  belonging  at  the  front. 
It  calls  for  certain  outstanding  and  unusual  qualities. 

(1)  For  moral  earnestness.  A  leader  must  stand  upon  his 
feet  squarely  and  know  why  he  is  there.  It  is  his  privilege 
and  duty  to  weigh  with  serious  purpose  the  moral  issues 
which  affect  society  and  to  take  his  place  where  he  belongs. 
Whoever  falters  or  fails  at  this  point  may  not  rank  as  a  real 
leader  with  whom  others  will  enlist  on  some  high  adventure. 

(2)  Christian  leadership  demands  also  the  quality  of  far- 
sightedness, the  habitual  reaching  beyond  the  present  into  the 
important  future,  the  thoughtful  prevision  of  the  trained  man 
who  has  studied  life,  who  realizes  its  opportunities  and  sur- 
prises, and  who  plans  far  ahead  of  the  passing  day  and  hour. 

(3)  A  third  attribute  of  the  real  leader  must  be  a  sympathy 
with  men  which  imparts  considerateness  and  courtesy,  a 
willingness  to  share  in  sacrificial  tasks  with  them  and  a  pro- 
found comprehension  of  their  needs.  Leadership  does  not 
imply  bluster  or  dominance,  so  much  as  this  peculiar  quality, 
so  abundantly  exhibited  in  our  Lord.  Such  a  quality  does 
not  grow  out  of  the  experience  of  books  so  naturally  as  from 
the  quiet  assumption  of  social  responsibility.  A  man  finds 
it  as  he  grapples  with  simple,  social  problems.  Elihu  Root, 
that  illustrious  statesman  of  our  day,  the  heir  of  Webster, 
lately  declared  in  regard  to  peace,  "  The  basis  of  peace  will 
not  be  fear,  but  a  just  and  considerate  spirit,  a  desire  on  all 
sides  to  be  fair  and  kindly." 

Two  other  qualities  distinguish  all  real  leadership.  (4)  A 
certain  competency  for  the  task  ahead,  a  measuring  up  to  the 
proper  standards  of  its  development  which  distinguishes  the 
all-round  personality,  virile,  skilful,  adaptable,  efficient,  made 
by  a  broad  and  sound  education.     And  (5)  a  spirit  of  teacha- 


Christian  Leadership  35 

bleness  which  never  considers  that  absolute  competency  as 
quite  attained,  whose  prevision  outmeasures  any  actual 
achievement,  which  is  continually  drawing  upon  the  teachings 
of  history,  ideahsm  and  experience  for  added  suggestions  for 
the  large  efl&ciency  of  any  movement. 

These  are  some  of  the  qualities  which  make  for  that  all- 
rounded,  heroic,  efficient,  advancing  leadership  so  surely 
needed,  if  we  are  ever  to  cope  in  adequate  fashion  with  the 
spiritual  and  social  needs  of  the  great  world  which  is  waiting 
for  such  advancing  influence.  I  have  not  exhausted  the  Hst 
of  quahties,  but  mention  these  outstanding  and  highly  de- 
sirable ones,  which  call  for  systematic  cultivation. 

Let  us  consider  for  a  while  the  sort  of  tasks  that  are  needing 
to  be  done  at  home  and  abroad  that  demand  this  highest  type 
of  trained  leadership,  —  men  not  merely  skilful  in  bringing 
things  to  pass  but  capable  for  the  various  tasks  of  Christian 
statesmanship.  I  mention  a  few  of  these.  (1)  The  interpreta- 
tion of  Christianity  to  this  generation.  The  Christian  world 
today  is  on  trial  in  the  eyes  of  the  larger  world,  but  Christian- 
ity is  hkewise  on  trial  in  our  own  country  and  in  this  very 
section.  There  is  no  more  insistent  need  today  than  the 
promulgation  of  the  simple  gospel  of  Jesus  Christ  in  such  sane 
and  friendly  though  clear-cut  terms  that  it  will  appeal  to  the 
average  man  in  our  midst,  who  will  understand  it  and  realize 
that  it  meets  the  normal,  legitimate,  permanent  needs  of  his 
own  nobler  life.  The  last  steps  are  still  to  be  taken  in  the 
application  of  theological  ideahsm  to  practical,  every-day 
need,  so  that  the  plain  man  may  appropriate  Christian  rela- 
tionships as  his  normal  environment.  Christianity  in  credal 
forms  seems  far  above  the  range  of  the  multitude;  Christian- 
ity as  a  living  response  to  fundamental  principles  of  ethical 
and  spiritual  moment  meets  with  instant  and  wide-ranging 
acceptance.  One  of  the  never-completed  tasks  of  Christian 
leadership  is  the  interpretation  of  Christ  to  each  generation 
in  such  terms  that  loyalty  to  Him  and  to  the  ongoing  of  His 


36  Religious  Progress  on  the  Pacific  Slope 

Kingdom  may  stand  forth  as  the  supreme  obhgation  of  every 
normal  being,  unaffected  by  race  or  language  or  sect  or 
occupation. 

(2)  Closely  allied  to  this  continuing  task  of  interpretation 
is  that  of  "  Christianizing  the  social  order,''  to  borrow  a  phrase 
already  historic.  This  is  a  monumental  task,  first  adequately 
seen  in  our  day,  that  of  making  the  practice  of  our  active 
world  conform  to  the  principles  of  Jesus.  I  need  not  declare 
at  length  before  this  assembly  that  the  task  is  essentially 
one  of  fearless  and  enlightened  Christian  leadership.  We  do 
not  need  to  develop  men  whose  business  it  will  be  to  revise 
schedules,  to  adjust  unholy  competition,  to  raise  starvation 
wages,  to  perform  any  of  the  practical  details  involved  in  the 
readjustment  of  the  social  order  that  it  may  comply  with 
the  elementary  principles  of  righteousness.  We  only  need  to 
provide  an  unbroken  succession  of  prophets,  of  men  whose 
searching,  incisive,  insistent,  unappeasable,  indomitable  dec- 
laration of  what  a  true  loyalty  to  Jesus  Christ  demands  in 
the  relations  of  employer  and  laborer,  of  teacher  and  pupil, 
of  corporate  power  with  individual  skill,  of  government  and 
the  citizen,  of  the  community  and  the  alien  brother,  of  the 
corporate  city  and  its  poor,  its  vice,  its  dependent  classes 
will  be  expressed  with  the  utmost  freedom  and  fearlessness. 
Such  stirring  representations  of  righteousness,  whose  appeal 
will  lie  with  the  convictions  and  consciences  of  men  and 
of  communities,  are  irresistible.  They  can  no  more  be  perma- 
nently blocked  than  the  advance  of  a  mighty  glacial  mass  on 
its  natural  way  to  the  sea.  Our  task,  then,  is  to  see  that  each 
generation,  with  its  fresh  dangers  and  unexpected  problems 
to  solve,  has  an  adequate  supply  of  men  whose  training  ha^ 
given  them  the  vision  and  balance,  the  insight  and  conscience, 
the  courage  and  devotion  adequate  to  support  them  in  the 
often  painful  but  always  imperative  duty  of  declaring  the 
obligations  of  true  righteousness  to  their  immediate  generation. 

(3)  As  an  essential  accompanying  task  to  those  of  the 


Christian  Leadership  37 

interpretation  and  the  socialization  of  the  principles  of  Christ, 
let  me  mention  the  historical  revaluation  of  the  Bible.  This 
comes  to  the  Christian  world  as  a  task  of  the  fruitful  restora- 
tion of  a  revelation  lost  sight  of  by  the  average  person,  if  not 
indeed  by  the  great  majority  of  those  who  profess  the  deepest 
loyalty  toward  the  Scriptures  as  the  unshakable  basis  of 
their  faith  in  Christianity,  as  the  one  complete  revelation  of 
God  to  man. 

I  count  as  one  of  the  precious  assets  of  my  own  life  the 
inspiration  and  impetus  of  daily  contact  during  my  years  of 
professional  training  with  that  prince  of  teachers  and  that 
organizing  genius,  the  late  President  Harper.  He  was  my 
beloved  chief  for  several  years,  challenging  my  own  capacity 
for  investigation  or  organization  at  every  turn.  He  was  my 
inspiring  leader  into  the  wide-ranging  realms  of  Semitic  and 
Biblical  thinking  and  research.  But  I  feel  the  deepest  and 
most  unending  and  affectionate  gratitude  to  him  because  he 
blazed  the  way  for  that  wise  popularization  of  historical  Bible 
study  to  which  it  has  been  my  joy  during  all  these  years  to 
give  some  definite  proportion  of  my  own  active  service.  I 
well  recall  the  occasion,  back  in  the  fall  of  1887,  I  think,  when 
Dr.  Harper,  at  a  meeting  of  Christian  students  from  the  New 
England  colleges  under  the  auspices  of  the  Yale  Student 
Y.  M.  C.  A.,  made  a  keen  criticism  of  the  current  methods  and 
ideals  of  Bible  study,  implying  that  they  offered  no  real  grasp 
of  th  e  Biblical  facts  and  consequently  no  intelhgent  compre- 
he  nsion  of  the  Scriptural  message.  That  representative  group 
of  earnest  students  immediately  challenged  him  to  provide  a 
course  of  Biblical  study  which  would  be  worth  the  while. 
To,  that  challenge  he  could  not  be  unresponsive  and  at  once 
set  to  work  to  organize  a  wide-ranging  campaign  for  the  arous- 
ing of  students  interested  in  Bible  study,  to  prepare  a  series 
of  courses  which  would  squarely  meet  the  needs  of  those  who 
responded  to  this  campaign,  to  project  and  develop  the 
American  Institute  of  Sacred  Literature,  which  would  furnish 


38  Religious  Progress  on  the  Pacific  Slope 

instruction  by  correspondence  to  those  unreached  by  the 
classroom,  and,  finally,  to  appeal  to  the  administrative  heads 
and  to  the  faculties  of  the  colleges  and  schools  of  the  land  to 
revolutionize  the  Biblical  teaching  commonly  recognized  in 
their  institutions  and  to  make  it  a  more  integral  part  of  the 
real  instruction  furnished.  There  were  plenty  of  colleges 
and  schools  in  that  day  and  earlier  which  nominally  honored 
the  Bible,  but  quite  universally  the  instruction  was  intended  to 
minister  to  the  spirit  of  devotion,  was  unscientific  in  character, 
was  largely  on  a  makeshift  basis  and  accomplished  singularly 
little  toward  the  real  progress  of  the  student  into  the  actual 
mastery  of  the  Scriptures  and  into  a  loving,  enthusiastic  use 
of  them  for  the  rest  of  life. 

That  beginning  came  nearly  thirty  years  ago,  a  whole 
generation.  The  courses  which  Dr.  Harper  and  his  col- 
leagues prepared  then  and  later  have  long  since  been  sup- 
planted by  others  of  more  definite  value  and  broader  scope. 
The  objective  he  had  in  mind  has  been  carried  by  others  to 
the  Sunday  School  and  to  the  world  at  large  until  now  "  Relig- 
ious Education  "  is  a  growingly  recognized  department  of  cul- 
tural training.  His  fame  rests  today  in  the  public  mind  with 
the  later  achievement  of  the  organization  and  development 
of  the  great  university  of  the  West,  to  whose  uniqueness 
and  remarkably  originative  influence  in  the  world  of  scholarly 
achievement  his  full  contribution  is  being  gradually  realized. 
I  venture  to  say,  however,  that  in  the  initiation  of  the  modern 
movement  in  the  intellectual  world  toward  the  recovery  of 
our  historic  Bible  and  its  true  understanding.  Dr.  Harper 
rendered  a  service  the  greatness  and  significance  of  which 
only  future  generations  will  realize.  The  historical  reve- 
lation of  the  Bible  is  not  at  all  an  abject  surrender  of  its 
unity  and  value  to  the  attacks  of  hostile  criticism,  any  more 
than  it  is  a  denial  of  the  sweet  and  tender  and  beautiful 
interpretations  which  came  so  spontaneously  and  powerfully 
out  of  the  hearts  of  those  saintly  men  and  women  upon  whom 


Christian  Leadership  39 

the  Scriptures,  friendly  fostered  in  mind,  have  made  their 
own  special  impression.     One  of  the  best  Bible  interpreters, 
in  some  directions,  I  ever  met  was  a  mother  in  Ceylon  who 
memorized  much  of  the  Scriptures,  and  continually  thought, 
in  her  own  language.     Historical  Bible  study  rather  seeks  to 
make  such  mastery  and  such  spiritual  expression  the  sane  and 
normal  outcome  of  a  survey  of  the  Old  and  New  Testament  as 
the  historical  record  of  God's  gradual  revelation  of  himself  to 
mankind.     This  revelation  was  not  completed  save  in  the 
life  and  teachings  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  but  the  basis  of 
its  apphcation  to  the  great  world  of  limited  experience  in 
religious  thinking  and   practice  here  at  home   and   of  the 
partial  understanding  of  God  all  over  his  world  gives  an  abid- 
ing value  to  the  gradual  approach  to  the  complete  revelation 
made  through  Jesus  which  we  find  in  the  Old  Testament 
record.     The  Hebrew  people  were  strugghng  with  the  same 
real  problems  of  society  and  statecraft  that  we  face  today. 
They  gave  them  a  solution  which  may  not  have  been  final  but 
which  was  on  its  way  toward  comprehension,  solutions  which 
often  appeal  with  great  force  to  men  and  women  who  have  not 
yet  ripened  into  the  full,  illuminative  insight  of  the  instructed, 
consecrated  Christian.     The  very  best  asset,  it  seems  to  me, 
of  a  Christian  today,  the  real  foundation  of  his  normal,  sane, 
strong,   spontaneous   Christian    self-expression    is  a  general 
grasp  of  the  four  things  which  the  historical  revaluation  of  the 
Bible  emphasizes,  (1)  the  broad  setting  of  the  real  construc- 
tive millennium  and  a  half  of  Hebrew  history  from  the  crossing 
of  the  Jordan  to  the  final  destruction  of  Jerusalem  and  the 
Jewish  state  in  the  second  century  of  our  era,  its  setting  in 
universal  history,  its  shaping  contact  with  great  nation  after 
great  nation;    (2)  the  organized  knowledge,  the  important 
data  of  these  fourteen  or  more  centuries,  so  that  they  stand 
out  in  the  mind  hke  the  centuries  since  the  Reformation; 
(3)  the  localization  of  the  hterature,  book  by  book,  so  that 
each  stands  to  the  mind  as  some  definite  contribution  of  rehg- 


40  Religious  Progress  on  the  Pacific  Slope 

ious  thinking  at  some  particular  period  or  crisis  in  that  march 
of  the  centuries;  and,  finally,  a  general  conception,  growing 
out  of  the  proper  arrangement  of  the  books  of  Scripture  in 
their  historical  setting,  of  the  progress  of  religious  thinking  from 
the  crude  conceptions  of  the  days  of  the  Judges  through  the 
broadening,  prophetic  utterances  of  the  eighth  and  seventh  and 
six  centuries,  B,  C,  to  the  simple  yet  catholic,  comprehensive, 
fundamental  and  compelling  declarations  of  our  Lord,  inter- 
preted into  many  applications  to  the  spiritual  life  of  today  by 
the  great  apostles  of  his  century  and  of  those  which  have  fol- 
lowed. To  bring  this  historic  revaluation  of  the  Bible  to  the 
world  which  needs  it  is  one  of  the  great  tasks  of  today. 

(4)  A  fourth  task  which  I  will  mention  involves  the  three  to 
which  I  have  called  your  attention,  —  those  of  the  sane 
interpretation  of  Christianity  as  a  life  of  righteousness,  of  the 
Christianization  of  the  social  order,  and  of  the  historical 
evaluation  of  the  Bible.  It  is  what  I  may  call  a  process  of 
world  standardization  or  illumination,  the  lifting  of  the  whole 
human  world  to  the  level  of  the  best  that  Christianity  can 
offer,  —  an  unselfish,  constructive,  appealing,  Christ-like  task. 
It  seems,  in  a  way  quite  providential,  to  be  committed  to  the 
churches  and  the  religious  leadership  of  our  country.  Dr. 
Guy,  in  his  discriminating,  I  may  say  truly  remarkable,  paper 
of  yesterday  on  "  Our  Relations  with  the  Oriental  World, "^ 
has  shown  most  clearly  the  difficulties,  commercial,  diplomatic 
and  intellectual,  which  hamper  the  leadership  of  the  best 
minds  of  Europe  in  deahng  with  the  Oriental  world.  We  as 
a  people  stand  far  more  advantageously  in  this  respect  in 
the  estimation  of  the  real  leaders  of  the  thinking  of  Japan, 
China  and  India.  It  is  not  from  Great  Britain,  or  France,  or 
Germany,  or  Russia  that  they  welcome  religious  influences, 
for  they  instinctively  fear  their  representatives;  it  is  from  us, 
the  nation  which  has,  on  the  whole,  dealt  generously  and  con- 
siderately with  them  and  with  their  affairs,  that  they,  — 

1  See  p.  187. 


Christian  Leadership  41 

notwithstanding  our  exclusion  laws  and  our  occasional  im- 
perialism, —  expect  the  friendly  leadership  which  will  put 
them  in  touch  with  a  true,  modern  nationaUsm. 

The  same  idea  finds  illustration  nearer  at  home.  The 
great  war  raging  in  Europe  has  given  a  chance  to  the  friendly 
helpfulness  of  Protestant  Christianity  quite  unexampled  in 
past  history.  Dr.  Mott,  by  reason  of  his  practical  offer  to 
minister  to  the  social  and  religious  needs  of  soldiers  under 
training,  of  soldiers  at  the  front,  of  wounded  men  in  hospitals 
and  of  the  hundreds  of  thousands  of  prisoners  in  the  deten- 
tion camps,  has  unlocked  gates  which  have  been  barred  for 
decades,  but  will  never  be  permitted  to  shut  again.  He  has 
gained  free  range  in  the  French  army,  in  the  prison  camps  of 
France,  Great  Britain,  Germany,  Russia  and  Austria;  he 
has  won  the  confidence  of  the  whole  battling  group  of  Euro- 
pean nations,  out  of  which  must  come  in  the  future  years  an 
unexampled  opportunity  for  our  American  Christianity  to 
introduce  the  type  of  robust,  intelligent,  consecrated  devoted- 
ness  to  Christ  and  to  the  Church,  which  means  so  much  to  the 
welfare  of  American  Christianity  today. 

The  standardizing  of  the  world's  religious  situation  today 
involves  at  least  five  great  objectives.  The  missionary 
pioneering  days  are  almost  over.  The  world  is  well  charted. 
The  primitive  side  of  evangelization  has  not  disappeared,  but 
is  rapidly  disappearing.  Its  continuance  is  due  today  rather 
to  our  unfaithfulness  to  duty  than  to  our  ignorance.  The  five 
tasks  I  would  particularly  emphasize  are  (1)  the  introduction, 
in  the  way  already  mentioned,  of  our  free  Christian  idealism 
to  the  peoples  of  Europe  who  have  been  accustomed  to  a  relig- 
ious autocracy;  (2)  the  shaping  of  the  highest  interests  of 
the  countries  of  the  non-  or  semi-Christian  world  by  the 
Christianization  of  their  leaders.  It  has  been  too  true  in  the 
past  that  aggressive  missionary  work  has  found  its  natural 
and  readiest  objective  among  the  poor  and  the  oppressed, 
among  the  humbler  folk,  and  has  been  content  to  gauge  its 


42  Religious  Progress  on  the  Pacific  Slope 

message  to  their  natural  level.  The  literati  among  the  Chin- 
ese have  been  seriously  reached  within  this  decade.  The 
really  directive  class  in  Latin  America  has  as  yet  hardly  been 
entered.  The  intellectual  leaders  of  India  are  Christianized 
to  a  very  slight  extent.  This  is  the  work  which  now  confronts 
the  Christian  church  and  demands  its  adequate  attention, 

(3)  The  establishment  of  national  churches,  which  shall 
develop  spontaneously  along  national  lines  with  forms  of  their 
own  and  with  their  own  interpretations  of  the  Christian  veri- 
ties. Then  and  then  only  may  we  hope  for  that  broader  and 
perhaps  truer  interpretation  of  Christianity  which  will  make 
it  Oriental  no  less  than  Occidental.  The  achievement  of 
this  result  will  be  one  of  the  greater  tasks  of  missionary 
statesmanship  in  the  future. 

(4)  A  fourth  objective,  worthy  of  special  mention  among 
the  many  which  might  be  discussed,  is  the  development  of  an 
adequate  body  of  national  literature  for  each  Oriental  or  non- 
Christian  country,  a  literature  which  will  actually  grow  out  of 
the  convictions  fostered  by  Christian  teachings,  possessing  the 
qualities  of  culture  and  of  life,  feeding  the  minds  and  hearts  of 
each  people.  I  sometimes  think  that  the  Christian  church  must 
set  itself  to  this  particular  task  with  especial  zeal  at  no  distant 
date.  It  stands  as  a  great  and  crying  need  of  the  non-Chris- 
tian world. 

(5)  The  fifth  great  task,  which  calls  for  highly  trained 
leadership  and  is  of  vast  importance,  is  that  which  we  term 
Rehgious  Education.  It  really  means  the  development  of 
men  and  women  who  shall  become  teachers  of  teachers,  lead- 
ers of  leaders,  inspirers  of  those  who  in  their  turn  will  carry 
conviction  and  living  power  to  myriads.  There  has  developed 
all  over  the  world  a  wonderful  demand  for  a  ministry  which 
can  teach.  In  many  of  our  churches  there  has  been  a  return 
to  the  early  custom  of  our  fathers,  when  they  were  wont  to 
call  into  the  service  of  the  church  a  teacher  as  well  as  a  pastor. 
The  development  of  the  Sunday-school  as  the  educational 


Christian  Leadership  43 

agency  of  the  church,  and  its  scientific  promotion,  is  one  of 
the  most  important  developments  of  our  day.  When  we  add 
to  this  the  calls  for  trained  leadership  in  our  student  associa- 
tions, for  student  pastors  or  for  church  workers  in  our  uni- 
versities, and  for  the  many  other  applications  of  this  demand 
to  practical  life,  the  growing  importance  of  this  task  of  training 
leaders  is  clearly  seen. 

These  five  great  tasks  calling  for  leadership  which  I  have 
discussed  are  each  definitely  recognized  and  honored  by  the 
churches.  They  are  tasks  which  call  for  a  trained  leadership 
of  more  than  ordinary  breadth  and  thoroughness  of  scholar- 
ship. Each  calls  for  men  and  women  of  sound  culture  and 
trained  ability.  Each  calls  for  a  specialized  training  which 
has  a  broad  religious  background,  such  as  the  school  of 
religion  alone  can  furnish. 

Experience  is  making  this  clear.  The  foreign  mission 
Boards  are  less  and  less  inchned  to  find  room  on  their  fields 
for  half-trained  candidates.  Thej^  are  rather  asking  that  each 
candidate,  if  possible,  in  addition  to  a  regular  high-school  and 
college  training,  plus  at  least  a  year  or  two  of  acceptable  relig- 
ious training,  be  given  a  highly  specialized  year  in  which 
he  may  be  carefully  trained  with  reference  to  the  particular 
task  for  his  especial  type  of  field,  in  order  that  he  may  express 
the  gospel  message  in  a  way  which  will  carry  conviction  to  the 
particular  people  to  whom  he  may  be  sent. 

In  the  field  of  rehgious  education  the  same  process  seems 
to  be  required.  The  really  virile  and  efficient  schools  of 
Rehgious  Education  today  are  to  be  found  in  connection  with 
our  great  schools  of  theology,  Hartford,  Yale,  Union,  Boston 
University  and  Chicago  University.  The  production  of 
rehgious  educators  is  definitely  a  rehgious  task,  which  be- 
longs to  the  well-equipped  school  of  rehgion. 

There  has  come  to  be  a  similar  belief  among  Association 
leaders  that  the  right  type  of  men  or  women  for  the  responsible 
task  of  directing  the  organizations  of  students  in  our  great 


44  Religious  Progress  on  the  Pacific  Slope 

universities  and  colleges,  or  for  the  somewhat  distinct  task 
of  the  student  pastorate,  should  be  men  and  women  who  have 
gained  by  study  a  wider  religious  background  than  can  be 
given  in  the  best  college  course  or  in  most  universities.  They 
need  to  be  trained  along  the  lines  of  the  ministry  in  order  to 
maintain  their  rightful  place  of  influence  or  leadership  with 
students,  faculty,  and  local  ministry,  alike. 

Experience  is  therefore  pointing  to  the  responsibility,  in 
part  at  least,  of  the  future  school  of  religion  for  these  and  other 
types  of  training,  not  exactly  ministerial,  but  closely  allied  to 
it. 

Such  a  responsibility  vastly  enlarges  the  outlook  of  the 
future  school  of  religion,  but  likewise  places  upon  it  the  neces- 
sity of  a  great  enlargement  of  its  faculties.  It  must  become  a 
specialized  institution  with  various  groupings  of  possible 
courses.  It  will  not  fail  to  furnish  the  time-honored  discipline 
which  long  experience  has  determined  to  be  the  best  adapted 
for  ministerial  or  pastoral  training.  It  will  also  offer  to  those 
who  are  to  go  out  upon  the  foreign  field  a  series  of  courses 
which  differ  from  those  offered  to  home  pastors  by  the  sub- 
stitution of  subjects  connected  with  the  history  and  practice 
of  missions  and  with  comparative  religion  and  the  philosophy 
of  religion  in  place  of  instruction  in  pulpit  oratory  or  church 
polity  or  kindred  subjects. 

The  school  of  religion,  as  its  means  increase,  will  offer 
more  and  more  the  highly  specialized  course  to  the  missionary 
candidate  which  he  ought  to  take  at  the  close  of  his  regular 
course.  It  will  have  courses  for  leaders  of  social  service 
work,  —  the  great  defect  of  which  in  the  past  has  been  its  need- 
less avoidance  of  religion  in  its  work,  —  for  religious  education, 
for  Association  leaders  and  for  the  training  of  all  the  varied 
leadership  demanded  by  the  churches  of  the  future. 

The  school  which  meets  these  varied  but  real  demands  of 
our  day  and  of  the  coming  decades  by  developing  amply 
equipped  departments  of  special  service  in  all  these  lines  has 


Christian  Leadership  45 

a  wonderful  future  before  it.  I  sometimes  hear  men  say- 
that  the  usefulness  of  the  school  of  theology  is  past.  How 
shortsighted  and  absolutely  foohsh  such  people  are!  Of 
course  they  are  slaves  of  their  own  terminology,  confusing 
theology  with  a  sort  or  mysticism  which  seems  distant  and 
unreal.  If  one  should  say  to  any  one  of  them  that  we  need 
good  schools  in  which  clear,  sane  rehgious  thinking  will  be 
developed,  he  would  doubtless  agree.  There  will  never 
cease  to  be  a  demand  for  the  school  of  rehgion,  as  long  as 
religion  remains  the  major  interest  in  every  normal  mind. 

God  has  a  strange  and  impressive  way  of  bringing  to  his 
Church,  from  time  to  time,  the  enlargement  of  its  task  in 
order  to  quicken  his  true  disciples  to  meet  the  exigency. 

The  Indian  mutiny  of  the  late  fifties  seemed  an  appalhng 
catastrophe,  but  it  called  the  fresh  attention  of  the  whole 
Christian  world  to  India  and  her  needs.  In  like  fashion  the 
Boxer  uprising,  instead  of  being  the  means  of  exterminating 
the  native  Christians  of  China,  multiplied  them  a  hundred- 
fold and  challenged  the  Christian  world  to  a  new  interest  and 
to  a  greater  Christian  enterprise  in  that  wonderful  repubhc. 

The  digging  of  the  inter-oceanic  canal  at  Panama  was  a 
great  international  event,  but  its  successful  conclusion  made  in 
particular  a  golden  day  of  spiritual  opportunity  for  that 
marvellously  resourceful,  potentially  important  sister  conti- 
nent of  ours  in  Latin-America.  We  seem  confined  and  checked 
today  in  many  a  Christian  enterprise  by  the  blighting,  bluster- 
ing hand  of  widespread  war.  We  long  for  the  day  of  perma- 
nent and  honorable  peace,  that  will  make  an  opportunity  of 
ending  such  unholy  warfare  forever.  Irrespective  of  that 
happy  result,  so  altogether  desirable,  it  seems  altogether  likely 
that  we  will  face  in  the  next  decade  a  new  order  of  things,  of 
vast,  even  unexpected  opportunities.  No  part  of  the  world, 
European,  Asiatic,  African,  Latin-American  or  local,  will  be 
secluded  from  our  influence.  The  task  of  producing  the 
leadership  for  such  a  situation  almost  baffles  the  imagination. 


4'6  Religious  Progress  on  the  Pacific  Slope 

It  thrills  us  with  the  sense  of  urgent  and  commanding  re- 
sponsibility. It  magnifies  the  task,  already  splendid,  of  such 
religious  centers  as  this  one  here  in  Berkeley.  It  defines  the 
fifty  years  yet  to  be  traversed  as  of  infinitely  greater  signifi- 
cance than  that  notable  half  century  which  is  behind.  Shall 
not  the  Pacific  School  of  Religion  with  a  zeal,  persistence  and 
consecration  in  no  way  inferior  to  the  splendid  devotedness  of 
the  past;  with  an  unchanging  determination  to  suffer  no 
abatement  of  fine  and  strong  standards  of  scholarship;  with 
a  steady  broadening  and  development  of  all  needed  curricula; 
with  a  plant  which  will,  by  its  dignified  exterior,  its  thorough 
adaptation  to  its  purposes,  and  its  ample  provision  for  all 
needs,  impress  all  who  look  upon  it  with  a  sense  of  the  place 
of  religion  in  the  normal  development  of  life;  with  financial 
resources  which  give  it  freedom  and  flexibleness  in  its  great 
work,  —  shall  it  not  go  on  from  this  momentous  hour  to  serve 
for  the  coming  half  century  this  beautiful  western  slope, 
the  great  abutting  nationalities  which  are  served  by  the 
Pacific  and  the  yet  greater  advancing  Kingdom  of  God 
throughout  our  nation  and  the  world  with  comprehensiveness, 
with  growing  efficiency  and  with  that  fine  and  holy  spirit 
which  has  characterized  and  crowned  its  customary  per- 
formance of  its  God-given  task? 


PART  II 
RETROSPECT  AND  PROSPECT 


Chapteb  IV 

THE  ORIGIN  AND  GROWTH  OF  THE  PROTESTANT 
CHURCH   ON   THE   PACIFIC   CO.\ST 

The  Rev.  Wtt.t.tav  Waeeen  Feeeieb,  A.M.,  D.D 
EdiU/r  fjj  Tlie  Pacific 

The  Church  had  its  beginning  on  the  Pacific  Coast  in  1769. 
In  July  of  that  year  Junipero  Serra,  the  Franciscan  friar, 
arrived  at  San  Diego,  and  estabHshed  there  the  first  of  the 
chain  of  CathoUc  Missions,  which  soon  stretched  along  the 
coast  for  seven  hundred  miles. 

For  the  beginning  of  Protestant  Christianity  we  have  to  go 
to  a  point  far  distant  from  CaMfomia  —  to  the  Pacific  North- 
west. There,  on  the  continental  6i\\c\e,  at  a  point  where  some 
of  the  raindrops  that  come  down  from  the  skies  flow  eastward 
into  rivers  that  pour  finally  into  the  Mississippi,  and  thence 
on  into  the  Atlantic,  and  where  others,  their  close  companions 
in  the  skies,  flow  at  length  into  the  Columbia  and  out  into  the 
Pacific,  there  was  in  1836  a  scene  that  should  have  lasting 
commemoration  by  a  great  mural  painting  in  some  noble 
edifice. 

Responding  to  the  call  of  those  Nez  Perce  Indians  who 
not  long  before  had  crossed  the  mountains  and  plains  to 
St.  Louis  in  search  of  the  Hght  the  white  man  had  concern- 
ing God  and  the  spirit  land,  a  httle  band  of  mi.ssionaries  — 
sent  out  by  the  American  Board  —  rested  there  on  their  way 
to  the  Oregon  Country'.  Spreading  their  blankets,  placing 
thereon  a  BiVjle,  unfurling  above  it  the  flag  of  their  countrj-, 
they  knelt  in  prayer  and  took  possession  thus  of  the  west- 
ern side  of  the  continent  for  Christ  and  the  Church. 

The  Jason  Lee  party,  responding  to  the  .same  call  —  sent 
by  the  Methodist  Board  —  had  preceded  them  in  1834. 
But  the  journey  of  1836  had  greater  significance  than  that  of 


50  Religious  Progress  on  the  Pacific  Slope 

1834.  There  were  women  in  this,  the  Marcus  Whitman 
party;  none  with  Jason  Lee. 

After  allowing  all  that  any  unbiased  mind  can  allow  of 
the  contention  of  those  who  claim  that  Marcus  Whitman's 
influence  in  saving  the  Oregon  Country  to  the  Republic  has 
been  overestimated,  it  must  be  granted  that  his  influence 
to  that  end  was  far  greater  than  that  of  any  other  person, 
and  such  as  should  crown  him  as  long  as  the  Republic  endures. 
From  the  day  when  the  first  white  women,  with  their  mis- 
sionary husbands,  crossed  the  Rocky  Mountains,  with 
not  only  the  Bible  but  a  quart  of  seed  wheat,  a  plow  and 
blacksmith  tools,  and  all  things  needful  for  the  founding 
of  the  home,  the  not-yet-settled  boundary  question  long 
agitating  England  and  America  began  to  be  settled,  and 
the  way  opened  up  for  the  regular  permanent  work  of  the 
Church  of  Christ  as  we  have  had  it  now  for  80  years  on  our 
coast.  Trappers  and  traders  and  explorers,  and  a  few  to 
whom  their  findings  had  come,  knew  before  that  the  country 
was  accessible;  but  Whitman,  the  Christian  missionary, 
blazed  the  way  —  especially  for  women  and  children  —  in 
those  weeks  when  he  worked  undauntedly  to  hear  the  wheels 
of  his  old  wagon  go  jolting  down  the  western  slopes  of  the 
Rockies.  And  when  in  1843  he  led  away  from  the  rendezvous 
on  the  Missouri  that  train  of  two  hundred  wagons  filled  with 
women  and  children,  the  United  States  Government  began  to 
be  anxious  to  take  up  for  settlement  the  boundary  question. 

With  Protestant  Christian  missions  in  the  Willamette 
and  in  the  valley  of  the  Walla  Walla,  there  begins  on  our 
coast  a  work  of  numerous  ramifications  and  far-reaching 
influence. 

First  Sermon  and  First  Churches  in  the  Oregon 
Country 

On  the  28th  of  September,  1834,  at  Fort  Vancouver  on 
the  Columbia,  Jason  Lee  preached  the  first  sermon  in  the 


The  Protestant  Church  51 

Oregon  Country.  There  were  English,  French,  Scotch, 
Irish,  Americans,  Indians,  half-breeds  and  Japanese  in  at- 
tendance, some  of  whom  did  not  understand  a  word  of  Eng- 
lish. Lee  found  it  difficult  to  collect  his  thoughts  and  find 
words  to  express  them.  But  he  thanked  God  for  the  privilege 
of  preaching  the  gospel  on  this  side  of  the  Rocky  Mountains, 
where  the  banner  of  Christ  had  never  before  been  thus  up- 
hfted. 

Although  this  was  the  first  preaching  service  by  a  min- 
ister of  the  gospel  on  the  Pacific  Coast  of  which  there  is 
record,  religious  instruction  was  given  much  earlier.  Several 
years  before  Pierre  Pambrun,  a  Catholic  layman,  a  Hudson 
Bay  Company  agent  at  Fort  Walla  Walla,  held  regular  Sunday 
services  which  many  Indians  attended.  And  Captain  Bonne- 
ville, out  there  in  1832  on  a  government  expedition,  noted  with 
surprise  that  the  Indians  would  not  hunt  with  him  on  Sunday, 
saying  that  it  was  a  sacred  day  and  that  the  Great  Spirit 
would  be  angry  with  them  if  they  hunted  on  that  day.  Learn- 
ing soon  that  Bonneville  could  give  them  further  instruction 
as  to  the  wonders  the  Great  Spirit  had  revealed  to  the  white 
man,  they  thronged  his  lodge  and  listened  with  greedy  ears. 
No  other  subject,  says  Bonneville,  gave  them  half  the  satis- 
faction or  commanded  half  the  attention.  There  was  religious 
instruction  also  from  time  to  time  at  Fort  Vancouver;  and 
July  21,  1833,  rehgious  services  were  conducted  for  the  first 
time  on  the  shores  of  Puget  Sound  —  at  Fort  Nisqually, 
by  Dr.  Tolmie,  a  physician  in  the  employ  of  the  Hudson  Bay 
Company.  Six  months  later  Dr.  Tolmie  wrote  in  his  diary 
concerning  the  Indians:  "  I  have  at  last  succeeded  in  altering 
their  savage  natures  so  that  they  not  only  listen  with  attention 
to  what  I  tell  them,  but  actually  practice  it." 

Persuaded  by  Dr.  McLoughlin,  the  famous  agent  of  the 
Hudson  Bay  Company,  to  settle  in  the  Willamette  rather 
than  east  of  the  mountains  in  the  Nez  Perce  country,  Jason 
Lee  established  on  the  6th  of  October,   1834,   near  where 


52  Religious  Progress  on  the  Pacific  Slope 

now  stands  the  capitol  of  the  State  of  Oregon,  the  first  mis- 
sionary station  in  the  Pacific  Northwest.  In  a  log  building 
which  was  built  for  home  and  school  and  church  purposes 
pupils  were  received  before  the  roof  was  on  —  so  eager  were 
the  people  to  send  their  children  and  so  anxious  were  the 
missionaries  to  begin  the  work. 

East  of  the  mountains  on  the  18th  of  August,  1838,  a 
church  was  organized  by  the  missionaries  of  the  American 
Board  with  this  resolution  on  its  records:  "  That  this  church 
be  governed  on  the  Congregational  plan,  but  attached  to  the 
Bath  Presbytery,  New  York."  That  eminent  authority, 
Myron  Eells,  has  written;  "  This  church  was  Presbyterian 
in  name.  It  was,  however,  Congregational  in  practice  as 
long  as  the  mission  lasted  —  not  being  connected  with  any 
presbytery  or  synod." 

There  were  seven  charter  members:  The  Whitmans  and 
Spaldings;  two  natives  of  Hawaii  coming  by  letter,  and  a 
French-Canadian  who  had  been  a  Catholic,  Nine  other  names 
were  added  within  a  month.  The  accessions  were  newly  ar- 
rived missionaries  of  the  American  Board  —  among  them  the 
Revs.  Elkanah  Walker  and  Cushing  Eells  —  destined  to 
leave  marked  impress  on  the  Pacific  Northwest,  religiously 
and  educationally. 

Not  for  three  years  did  the  church  have  an  Indian  member. 
In  1846  the  names  of  22  natives  were  on  the  roll  of  this  church. 
In  1855  the  number  enrolled  was  small;  and  yet,  investiga- 
tion showed  that  in  one-third  of  the  homes  of  the  Nez  Perce, 
among  1,000  persons,  regular  morning  and  evening  worship 
was  kept  up. 

Other  First  Things  in  the  Oregon  Country 

Those  early  years  of  the  Church  in  Oregon  are  years  on 
which  I  would  dehght  to  dwell.  Interesting  events,  far- 
reaching  in  their  influences,  abound. 


The  Protestant  Church  53 

At  the  Jason  Lee  Mission  in  the  Willamette  early  in  1835 
was  organized  the  first  Sunday  school  west  of  the  Rocky 
Mountains.  Three  Indians  and  eleven  half-breeds  were  in 
attendance.  There  at  the  Mission  near  Salem  in  1837  was 
the  first  Anglo-Saxon  marriage  on  the  Pacific  Coast. 

In  February,  1836,  it  being  rumored  that  some  new  ar- 
rivals at  the  settlement  were  contemplating  the  manufac- 
ture of  rum,  the  missionaries  organized  the  first  temperance 
society  west  of  the  Rockies.  About  ten  months  later  two 
young  men  did  begin  to  build  a  distillery.  A  letter  was  sent 
to  them  by  the  temperance  society  in  which  they  were  urged 
to  desist,  and  in  it  the  offer  to  remunerate  them  for  the  ex- 
penditure already  made.  The  young  men  stopped  the  work, 
thanked  the  society  for  its  offer  to  reimburse  them,  but  stated 
that  they  would  not  accept  anything.  Thus  were  the  natives 
and  the  settlers  saved  for  some  time  from  the  baneful  results 
of  the  use  of  intoxicating  liquor. 

It  was  from  the  Whitman-Spalding  Mission  east  of  the 
Cascades  that  in  1839  there  came  from  the  httle  press  sent 
from  the  mission  in  Honolulu  the  first  book  printed  west  of 
the  Rockies.  It  consisted  of  parts  of  the  gospels  and  a  few 
sacred  songs  —  in  the  Nez  Perce  tongue. 

In  1846,  in  the  Willamette  Valley,  on  that  same  mission 
press  —  to  be  seen  now  in  the  rooms  of  the  Oregon  Historical 
Society  in  Portland  —  was  printed  the  first  newspaper  on 
this  coast.  This  was  in  February,  1846,  —  six  months  before 
the  first  paper  was  printed  in  California  at  Monterey. 

Growth  in  Early  Years  in  Oregon 

The  church  growth  in  Oregon,  of  course,  was  slow  —  the 
population  being  only  a  few  thousand  for  several  years. 
Early  in  1848  the  Congregationalists,  Presbyterians  and 
Baptists  had  only  two  churches  each;  the  Methodists  led 
in  the  number  of  organizations  as  well  as  in  the  number  of 


54  Religious  Progress  on  the  Pacific  Slope 

preachers  —  there  being  six  missionaries  and  about  twice 
that  number  of  local  preachers;  and  their  circuits  reached  into 
most  of  the  settlements  in  the  territory.  The  Catholics  had 
four  churches;  and  the  Cumberland  Presbyterians  and 
Disciples  had  representatives  in  the  field  and  were  on  the 
eve  of  an  aggressive  devoted  work.  Oregon  City  was  the 
chief  town.  Portland  had  only  begun  to  be,  and  had  as  yet 
no  organized  work. 

When  the  Presbytery  of  Oregon  was  organized  in  1851  it  had 
only  four  members.  There  was  but  one  organized  Presbyte- 
rian Church  at  that  time,  and  so  the  presbytery  had  but  one 
elder.  This  church  was  the  one  at  Clatsop  Plains,  near  the 
mouth  of  the  Columbia,  organized  in  1846,  and  which  was  for 
some  time  "  the  farthest  west  church  in  the  United  States." 
The  other  Presbyterian  Church,  heretofore  listed,  that  at 
Oregon  City,  became  Congregational  soon  after  Dr.  Atkinson 
reached  Oregon  as  the  representative  of  the  American  Home 
Missionary  Society. 

The  Days  of  '49  in  California 

The  discovery  of  gold  in  California  started  thousands  this 
way  from  all  over  the  land.  Oregon  was  almost  depopulated. 
California  became  soon  the  Mecca  all  around  the  globe,  and 
in  this  state  for  a  long  time  after  1848  occurred  the  striking 
events  in  Pacific  Coast  history. 

The  first  movement  toward  the  establishing  of  a  church 
in  San  Francisco  was  taken,  however,  some  time  before  the 
gold  excitement  brought  men  from  the  ends  of  the  earth. 
On  the  8th  of  May,  1847,  the  village  paper,  The  California 
Star,  contained  this  note : 

"  A  meeting  of  the  citizens  of  this  place  was  called  on 
Thursday  evening  of  last  week  for  the  purpose  of  ascertain- 
ing the  prevailing  sentiment  in  relation  to  the  estabhshment 
of  a  church  in  the  town  of  San  Francisco. 


The  Protestant  Church  55 

"  We  hail  this  as  the  first  step  towards  the  planting  of 
the  standard  of  our  glorious  institutions  on  the  shores  of 
the  Pacific,  and  trust  an  energetic  co-operation  of  our  citizens 
will  insure  success  to  the  enterprise." 

More  than  a  year  passed  however  before  regular  religious 
work  was  undertaken  in  San  Francisco.  In  October,  1848, 
the  one  who  is  to  go  down  in  history  as  the  first  stated  preacher 
of  the  gospel  in  California  came  here  from  a  foreign  country. 
In  the  summer  of  1848  the  United  States  Commissioner  to 
the  Sandwich  Islands  was  in  San  Francisco  temporarily  and 
there  went  through  him  an  earnest  appeal  for  a  minister  of 
the  gospel  in  the  little  city,  thronged  daily  more  and  more  by 
men  from  all  quarters  of  the  earth  in  the  whirl  of  the  desire 
for  the  treasures  of  the  new  Eldorado.  The  Rev.  T.  Dwight 
Hunt  had  gone  to  Honolulu  as  an  American  Board  missionary 
to  the  natives,  and  later  had  undertaken  work  among  the 
Americans  resident  there.  The  exodus  to  California  halted  it 
almost  in  its  beginning;  the  need  and  opportunity  in  San 
Francisco  appealed  to  him,  he  accepted  the  call  and  landed 
in  San  Francisco  on  the  29th  of  October,  1848. 

On  the  first  of  November  a  meeting  of  persons  interested 
in  the  welfare  of  San  Francisco  religiously  was  held.  In- 
asmuch as  Christian  people  were  few  in  number  in  the  little 
town  then,  and  those  few  represented  various  denominations, 
a  union  work  was  deemed  best,  and  the  newly  arrived  minister 
was  engaged  as  chaplain  of  San  Francisco  for  one  year  from 
November  2, 1848,  at  a  salary  of  $2,500.  On  the  5th  of  Novem- 
ber he  preached  his  first  sermon  on  the  subject,  "  The  Love 
of  God  in  the  Gift  of  Christ."  The  text  of  course  was  the 
familiar  one,  John  3  :  16. 

Preaching  was  a  novelty  then  in  San  Francisco.  There 
had  been  occasional  preaching  by  Methodist  ministers  en 
route  to  Oregon  and  by  Episcopal  chaplains  on  vessels  tem- 
porarily in  the  harbor.  A  Methodist  lay  preacher  and  ex- 
horter  had  held  a  few  services.     A  Methodist  "  class  "  had 


56  Religious  Progress  on  the  Pacific  Slope 

been  organized,  but  had  been  scattered  by  the  rush  to  the 
mines. 

Filled  seats  greeted  the  preacher  in  the  Uttle  Pubhc  Institute 
building  on  Portsmouth  Square.  Not  an  aged  person  was  in 
attendance;  there  were  only  three  women;  it  was  a  congrega- 
tion of  men  —  men  under  middle  life,  erect,  wide-awake, 
energetic,  "  a  fair  type  of  the  class  who  early  sought  these 
shores,  and  whose  enterprise  and  wonderful  activity  wrought 
so  soon  great  changes  throughout  the  state,"  wrote  Hunt  in 
his  reminiscences  in  The  Pacific  in  1888. 

Tarrying  that  day  in  the  rear  of  the  room  until  many  had 
greeted  and  congratulated  the  preacher  were  a  man  and  woman 
whom  he  had  observed  as  particularly  interested  hearers. 
Finally  approaching  the  chaplain  the  man  introduced  him- 
self and  wife,  remarking:  "  We  have  been  greatly  gratified 
with  what  we  have  heard,  and  are  heartily  glad  you  have  come 
among  us."  These  words  were  backed  at  once  by  a  voluntary 
pledge  of  six  ounces  of  gold  for  each  three  months  of  the  year 
as  an  addition  to  the  salary  already  promised  the  preacher. 
The  man  was  Samuel  Brannan  of  Mormon  fame,  the  man 
who  a  few  years  before  had  led  a  colony  of  his  people  to  CaH- 
fornia  —  surmised  as  part  of  a  plan  to  take  possession  of  this 
sunny  land  as  Utah  had  been  possessed,  but  which  came  to 
naught  because  on  their  arrival  the  stars  and  stripes  were 
found  floating  here. 

Foundations  Widely  Laid 

At  the  Sunday  school  organized  the  second  Sunday  there 
were  seven  scholars  and  four  teachers,  an  English  Episcopa- 
lian sea-captain,  a  Congregational  and  a  Baptist  layman, 
a  Presbyterian  woman.  The  next  Sunday  there  were  12 
scholars  and  the  following,  28.  There  had  been  Sunday 
Schools  in  the  town  before  this  date  in  1848;  but  the  rem- 
nants had  been  scattered  by  the  rush  for  the  mines. 


The  Protestant  Church  57 

At  the  first  prayer-meeting  there  were  four  present  besides 
the  chaplain  —  among  them  a  Chinese  girl  brought  from 
Hongkong. 

The  third  Sunday  the  sermon  was  on  "  The  Nature  of 
True  Rehgion,"  —  text  in  James.  Gov.  Mason  of  CaHfornia 
and  ex-Gov.  Boggs  of  Missouri  were  in  attendance  and  ex- 
pressed appreciation. 

New  Year's  Eve,  in  that  little  chapel  was  held  the  first 
monthly  concert  of  prayer  for  the  conversion  of  the  world 
ever  held  in  California. 

There  also  on  the  5th  of  January,  1849,  was  held  San  Fran- 
cisco's first  temperance  meeting.  The  chapel  was  filled  with 
men.  Not  a  woman  was  present.  "  Strange,  yet  not  strange," 
"  the  men  were  the  ones  most  important  to  reach  and  they 
were  there."  Their  numbers  and  attentiveness  were  an 
inspiration  to  the  minister  who  had  been  announced  as 
speaker. 

Eighteen  names  were  put  on  the  pledge  of  the  American 
Temperance  Union  that  evening.  So  tipsy  was  the  first  man 
who  signed  that  it  was  with  great  difficulty  he  walked  to  the 
desk. 

On  the  first  Sunday  in  January,  1849,  their  first  sacramental 
table  was  spread  in  the  chapel,  a  new  sight  in  the  territory  of 
California,  and  twelve  persons  partook  of  the  emblems.  The 
chaplain  remarked  that  this  was  the  exact  number  that  had 
partaken  of  that  first  supper  long  before  in  Palestine  and  ex- 
pressed the  hope  that  there  might  never  be  in  this  1849  band 
any  betrayers. 

It  was  in  that  Httle  chapel,  that  had  been  first  a  school- 
house,  that  there  was  held  the  first  week  in  1849  a  public 
meeting  to  consider  the  need  for  and  the  propriety  of  es- 
tabhshing  a  provisional  government  for  the  territory  of 
CaHfornia.  This  was  the  beginning  of  those  expressions 
by  the  people  which  resulted  soon  in  the  constitutional  con- 
vention at  Monterey. 


58  Religious  Progress  on  the  Pacific  Slope 

Beginning  of  Denominational  Work 

In  February,  1849,  the  first  missionaries  sent  out  to  Cali- 
fornia by  the  mission  boards  on  the  Atlantic  Coast  reached 
these  shores. 

On  the  23d  of  February,  S.  H.  Willey  reached  Monterey 
by  the  first  steamship,  the  California,  and  five  days  later,  by 
the  same  steamship,  J.  W.  Douglas,  Sylvester  Woodbridge  and 
O.  C.  Wheeler  arrived  in  San  Francisco.  Albert  Williams 
arrived  on  the  Oregon  on  the  first  of  April. 

With  the  arrival  of  these  missionaries  began  organized 
denominational  work, 

Benicia,  then  a  town  with  great  expectations,  had  on  the 
15th  of  April,  1849,  the  first  organization,  a  Presbyterian, 
with  Woodbridge  as  pastor. 

The  First  Presbyterian,  San  Francisco,  the  oldest  now  in 
existence,  organized  May  20,  1849,  came  next  in  order  — 
Albert  Williams,  pastor. 

One  of  the  six  persons  uniting  to  form  this,  the  first  Protes- 
tant church  in  San  Francisco,  was  a  young  man  from  a  little 
Congregational  church  in  Vermont  who  believed  in  getting  in 
at  once  somewhere.  Identified  also  from  the  beginning  with 
the  movement  a  few  years  later  for  the  College  of  California, 
he  suggested  the  name  of  the  great  philosopher,  Berkeley, 
for  the  town  in  which  it  was  established;  and  the  Pacific 
School  of  Religion  by  the  Frederick  BilHngs  Foundation 
perpetuates  his  name  here,  where  he  lived  a  consistent,  useful. 
Christian  life,  when  such  lives  were  greatly  needed. 

Plans  were  laid  in  the  early  months  of  1849  for  the  organiza- 
tion of  several  churches.  On  the  29th  of  June  the  First 
Baptist  was  organized,  with  O.  C.  Wheeler  as  pastor.  The 
First  Congregational,  delayed  a  little  because  T.  Dwight 
Hunt,  who  became  its  pastor,  was  acting  as  city  chaplain, 
had  formal  organization  on  the  29th  of  July.  The  same  week 
Trinity  Episcopal  came  into  existence,  with  Flavel  S.  Mines 
as  rector. 


The  Protestant  Church  59 

J.  A.  Benton  arrived  in  San  Francisco,  July  6,  1849.  He 
preached  his  first  sermon  in  Sacramento  on  the  22d  of  July, 
and  on  the  23d  of  September  the  First  Congregational  Church 
of  that  city  was  organized. 

J.  W.  Douglas  had  been  designated  by  the  American  Home 
Missionary  Society  for  work  in  San  Francisco.  But  finding 
that  his  Yale  College  classmate,  T.  Dwight  Hunt,  was  at 
work  here,  Douglas  went  to  San  Jos6  and  organized  there  in  a 
short  time  a  New  School  Presbyterian  Church  —  the  members 
being  mainly  Congregationalists. 

The  regularly  estabhshed  work  of  the  Methodist  Episco- 
pal Church  began  with  the  arrival  of  WiUiam  Taylor,  who 
arrived  Sept.  21,  1849. 

The  first  Methodist  preachers  sent  out  by  the  church 
board  were  Wm.  Taylor  and  Isaac  Owen.  The  first  named 
came  by  steamer,  the  second  by  ox  team.  On  the  same 
Sunday  in  1849,  Sept.  23,  that  Owen  preached  first  in  Cali- 
fornia, under  the  trees  near  where  is  now  the  little  mountain 
city  of  Grass  Valley,  Taylor  preached  his  first  sermon  in  San 
Francisco.  This  was  in  the  Baptist  Church  at  the  invitation 
of  its  pastor.     Text :  "  What  think  ye  of  Christ?  " 

Three  Sundays  later  he  was  preaching  in  a  httle  chapel 
constructed  out  of  lumber  sent  from  Oregon  before  his  ar- 
rival at  the  order  of  William  Roberts,  who  had  had  Cahfornia 
added  to  his  jurisdiction  in  Oregon.  But  the  first  Protestant 
Church  building  in  California  was  built  in  San  Francisco  several 
weeks  earlier  by  Baptists. 

The  First  Unitarian  Church  was  organized  in  San  Fran- 
cisco in  1850.  At  dedication  services  in  1853  an  original 
hymn,  written  by  the  pastor,  Frederick  Grey,  was  sung,  the 
closing  stanza  of  which  was: 

"And  may  our  Saviour's  teachings  here, 
His  life,  his  death,  his  matchless  love, 
Calm  every  doubt,  remove  each  fear, 
And  fit  us  for  thy  courts  above." 


60  Religious  Progress  on  the  Pacific  Slope 

Taking  part  in  this  dedicatory  service  were  the  Rev.  Mar- 
tin C.  Briggs  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  and  the 
Rev.  Messrs.  Brierly  of  the  Baptist  and  Boring  of  the  Meth- 
odist Church  South. 

Among  the  things  showing,  as  the  foregoing  does,  the 
Cathohc  spirit  in  those  early  days  was  the  note  in  The  Pacific 
recording  the  fact  that  a  Jewish  synagogue,  the  first  in  the 
state,  was  dedicated  in  Sacramento  in  September,  1852;  and  in 
connection  therewith  a  word  of  welcome  to  the  congregation 
worshiping  there  as  one  of  the  forces  making  for  righteousness. 

The  churches  to  be  labeled  as  "  49ers  "  were  the  Presby- 
terian at  Benicia,  the  Presbyterian,  Baptist,  Congregational, 
Episcopal  and  Methodist  in  San  Francisco,  the  Congrega- 
tional at  Sacramento,  the  Methodist  at  San  Jose  and  Santa 
Cruz,  and  the  Independent  Presbyterian  at  San  Jose,  largely 
Congregational  in  its  membership  and  which  did  not  unite 
with  a  presbytery  for  nearly  twenty  years. 

I  wish  we  had  time  to  dwell  on  that  first  year  of  church 
life  in  California  —  showing  how  the  foundations  were  laid 
or  began  to  be  laid.  All  the  societies  and  auxiliaries  needful 
for  the  wide  work  of  the  church  began  soon  to  be. 

Notable  among  these  was  a  Bible  Society  organized  on 
the  30th  day  of  July,  1849,  to  which  that  scholarly,  saintly 
man,  Frederick  Buel,  gave  himself  with  great  devotion  till 
the  day  of  his  ascension  in  1873.  Mr.  E.  P.  FHnt,  the  Chris- 
tian layman,  who  was  the  second  treasurer  of  that  Bible 
Society,  continued  in  office  for  63  years. 

Work  for  seamen  and  among  the  Chinese  was  instituted  at 
an  early  date. 

Four  religious  papers  were  started  in  the  first  three  years: 
The  Pacific,  by  the  Congregationalists  and  New  School 
Presbyterians,  August  1st,  1851;  the  California  Christian 
Advocate,  by  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  on  the  10th  of 
October  of  the  same  year  and  later  organs  of  the  Methodist 
Church  South  and  the^Baptists. 


The  Protestant  Church  61 

Mindful  of  the  great  influence  of  the  printed  page,  Isaac 
Owen  had  shipped  to  San  Francisco  before  his  departure 
from  the  East  about  $2,000  worth  of  books,  and  in  1849  he 
and  WiUiam  Taylor  opened  here  a  bookstore,  out  of  which 
sprang  the  Pacific  Coast  branch  of  the  Methodist  Book 
Concern  —  a  mighty  arm  of  the  church. 

Growth  During  the  First  Twenty  Years 

By  the  middle  of  the  year  1853  there  were  in  Cahfornia 
approximately  eighty-five  Protestant  Church  organizations. 
The  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  had  thirty;  the  Methodist 
Church  South,  twenty;  the  Baptists,  nine;  the  Congregation- 
ahsts,  eight;  the  New  School  Presbyterians,  seven;  the  Old 
School,  four;  the  Episcopahans,  six;  the  Unitarians,  one. 
The  Catholic  organizations,  aside  from  the  remnants  of  the 
missions,  numbered  ten. 

Coming  down  now  to  1869,  the  year  in  which  Pacific 
Theological  Seminary  was  opened  in  San  Francisco,  we 
find  that  the  progress  was  noteworthy.  The  ten  Protestant 
Churches  organized  in  1849  had  increased  to  more  than  350; 
and  the  small  membership  in  that  year,  that  of  the  largest 
being  only  12,  had  mounted  up  to  more  than  twenty  thousand. 
The  advancement  during  the  last  half  of  that  twenty-year 
period  was  found  to  have  been  such  as  to  treble  the  strength 
of  the  churches  —  and  this  notwithstanding  the  fact  that  the 
population  of  the  State  had  increased  in  that  decade  only  by  a 
very  small  ratio. 

Included  in  these  350  or  more  churches  in  the  early  months 
of  1869  were  a  few  in  Los  Angeles  and  vicinity.  For  sixteen 
years  after  the  beginnings  in  and  around  San  Francisco 
there  was  no  estabhshed  Protestant  work  south  of  Monterey 
along  the  coast,  nor  south  of  Visalia  in  the  San  Joaquin  Valley. 
The  CathoHcs  had  the  field  practically  to  the  Mexican  border. 

John  W.  Douglas,  who  had  been  sent  here  by  the  American 
Missionary  Society  along  with  Dr.  Willey,  worked  in  Los 


62  Religious  Progress  on  the  Pacific  Slope 

Angeles  from  January  to  August,  1851,  being  withdrawn 
because  the  outlook  seemed  so  hopeless. 

The  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  stationed  a  preacher  in 
Los  Angeles  in  1854;  he  remained  a  short  time  only,  and 
blanks  appear  after  "  Los  Angeles  "  in  the  conference  records 
most  of  the  time  down  to  1867. 

On  the  4th  of  May,  1859,  the  Presbyterians  organized  what 
they  named  "  The  First  Protestant  Society."  In  1864  a 
small  building  was  erected,  which  in  a  short  time  came  into 
the  possession  of  the  Episcopalians,  the  Presbyterian  work 
being  abandoned.  It  was  not  taken  up  again  until  the  time 
in  1874,  when  that  heroic,  devoted  Scotchman,  Thomas 
Fraser,  on  a  tour  of  investigation  as  synodical  missionary, 
wrote  to  his  Home  Board  that  Los  Angeles  was  one  of  the 
places  which  the  Presbyterian  Church  should  take  and  hold 
regardless  of  expense,  as  England  held  Gibraltar. 

In  1855  Bishop  Kip  of  the  Episcopal  Church  visited  Los 
Angeles  and  held  the  first  prayer-book  service  in  the  little 
city.  Nothing  more  was  done  until  1858,  when  a  licensed  lay 
reader  was  reported  by  the  Bishop  as  carrying  on  at  that  time 
the  only  Protestant  service  in  the  place.  He  was  hoping 
to  induce  a  clergyman  in  the  East  to  come  out  and  take  the 
work.  It  was  not,  however,  until  1864  that  a  man  was  se- 
cured, and  he  was  one  in  search  of  health. 

The  Methodist  Church  South  essayed  Los  Angeles  in 
1855.  Bishop  Andrew  sent  a  minister  there  early  that  year. 
In  August  he  wrote  to  a  friend:  "  I  have  been  here  six  months. 
There  are  three  Protestant  churches  in  the  town.  Their 
united  congregations  amount  to  ten  persons.  The  receipts 
from  collections  during  six  months  amount  to  ten  dollars. 
I  have  been  studying  the  great  scientific  question  —  namely, 
the  location  of  the  seat  of  hunger.  Is  it  in  the  stomach  or  in 
the' brain?  After  consulting  all  the  best  authorities,  and  no 
little  experience,  I  have  concluded  that  it  is  migratory  —  first 
in  one,  and  then  in  the  other." 


The  Protestant  Church  63 

In  1865,  Dr.  Warren,  Superintendent  of  Congregational 
work  in  California,  and  who  participated  in  the  organization 
of  188  churches,  visited  Los  Angeles.  He  found  no  Protestant 
minister  there;  no  regular  preaching  service;  no  Sunday 
school.  Soon  thereafter  the  American  Home  Missionary 
Society,  on  Dr.  Warren's  recommendation,  sent  Alexander 
Parker  to  estabhsh  work  in  Los  Angeles,  and  he  went  with 
these  instructions:  "  Say  not  a  word  to  any  one  about  support, 
but  preach,  throw  up  breast-works,  put  siege  guns  in  position, 
and  stay  by  them." 

Mr.  Parker  began  his  work  in  Los  Angeles  on  the  7th  of 
July,  1866.  He  was  an  able  and  consecrated  preacher  and 
pastor,  but  it  was  not  until  1867  that  he  was  able  to  organize  a 
church  —  and  it  began  with  but  six  members,  four  besides 
himself  and  wife. 

On  the  7th  of  February,  1867,  five  months  earlier  than 
this  organization  in  Los  Angeles,  a  Congregational  church 
was  organized  at  San  Bernardino  —  the  outgrowth  of  a 
Sunday  School  established  in  1858. 

Work  was  estabhshed  in  1867  in  Santa  Barbara  by  the 
Methodists,  Congregationahsts  and  Episcopalians. 

A  Baptist  from  Texas  is  said  to  have  planted  a  church 
at  El  Monte  in  1853  and  as  farmer-preacher  to  have  minis- 
tered to  it  with  considerable  regularity  all  those  years. 

At  the  close  of  the  year  1869  we  find  accordingly  all  of  the 
most  prominent  places  in  the  State  occupied  by  one  or  more 
of  the  Protestant  denominations.  However,  The  Pacific  stated 
in  October  of  that  year:  "  And  yet  not  one-half  of  the  ter- 
ritory of  California  is  in  any  sense  included  in  any  regular 
missionary  effort.  ...  In  all  this  vast  territory  on  the 
eve  of  wonderful  development  a  few  dots  will  represent  all  the 
outposts  and  centers  of  rehgious  effort.  For  a  generation  to 
come  it  will  be  one  vast  mission  field.  San  Francisco,  too, 
already  putting  forth  its  claim  as  a  great  commercial  metropo- 
lis, and  having  the  possibility  of  future  greatness  which  none 


64  Religious  Progress  on  the  Pacific  Slope 

of  us  can  limit,  is  only  a  missionary  field,  requiring  hard 
work  and  as  much  self-denial  in  church  planting  and  training 
as  anywhere  else  in  this  great  domain." 

New  responsibilities  were  arising  constantly  about  that 
time  because  the  centers  of  population  had  been  changing 
and  were  still  changing  astonishingly.  For  many  years 
the  mining  towns,  toward  which  was  the  great  drift  of  popula- 
tion, had  seemed  the  most  hopeful  fields  of  missionary  effort. 
But  in  1869  there  were  in  very  many  of  those  that  remained 
empty  dwellings,  empty  business  rooms,  and  empty  churches. 
The  drift  was  then  toward  the  coast  counties  and  the  agricul- 
tural parts  of  the  State. 

The  growth  in  the  Northwest  was  slower.  Oregon  had 
at  this  time  a  church  membership  of  approximately  8,000. 
And  north  of  the  Columbia,  in  Washington  Territory,  there 
were  only  a  few  scattered  organizations  —  each  with  small 
membership.  The  oldest  Congregational  church  in  Washing- 
ton, the  First  at  Walla  Walla,  was  organized  in  1865. 

When  in  1879  a  church  was  organized  at  Chewelah,  on 
the  spot  where  Cushing  Eells  had  encamped  in  1838,  —  41 
years  before,  —  there  were  not  more  than  ten  other  Con- 
gregational churches  in  Washington  Territory,  and  only  a  few 
also  of  other  denominations. 

How  THE  Pioneer  Workers  Interpreted  the 
Marching  Orders 

And  now,  before  we  span  the  other  decades  down  to  the 
close  of  the  century,  let  us  notice  with  great  brevity  a  few 
of  those  early  Christian  workers  —  and  see  how  their  lives 
have  been  built  into  all  that  is  best  in  our  coast  life  today. 
We  cannot  measure  the  growth  of  the  Church  through  the 
years,  nor  estimate  its  worth  by  statistics.  Great  influences 
go  out  from  it  that  have  no  visible  connections  with  it  often- 
times. 


The  Protestant  Church  65 

In  general  the  leaders  who  came  here  in  early  years  inter- 
preted broadly  —  but  not  too  broadly  —  the  marching  orders 
given  1,800  years  before  on  the  slopes  of  Olivet. 

In  a  letter  of  instructions  sent  to  the  first  commissioned 
missionaries  by  the  American  Home  Missionary  Society, 
after  the  discovery  of  gold  was  known  in  the  East,  it  was  said : 
"  We  wish  you  to  take  a  broad  and  comprehensive  survey  of 
the  work  to  be  done  there.  Never  were  men  more  emphati- 
cally called  to  lay  foundations  —  foundations  that  are  not  to 
have  ages  to  consolidate  them  before  they  are  built  on,  but 
which  are  to  have  a  massive,  and,  we  trust,  a  beautiful  and 
enduring  superstructure  erected  upon  them  at  once." 

It  was  through  the  efforts  of  one  of  these  missionaries 
—  Samuel  H.  Willey  —  that  the  first  public  library  was  es- 
tablished in  California. 

Within  three  months  after  his  arrival  in  Monterey,  he 
was  in  correspondence  with  an  overseer  of  Harvard  College, 
requesting  suggestions  as  to  plans  for  establishing  a  college  in 
California.  When  later  in  that  year  he  visited  the  Rev.  J.  A. 
Benton,  the  newly  arrived  minister  at  Sacramento,  they  talked 
college,  college,  college.  Likewise  again  in  1850  when  Benton 
visited  Willey  in  Monterey. 

The  Rev.  J.  A.  Douglas  wrote  concerning  him  while  at 
Monterey:  "  I  think  he  has  no  plan  of  settling  down  any- 
where or  engaging  in  anything  permanently  for  years  to  come. 
His  idea  seems  to  be  to  travel  hither  and  thither,  preach  some, 
form  acquaintances,  talk  of  education,  and  when  there  is 
formed  such  a  thing  as  a  board  of  trustees  for  a  California 
university,  to  become  its  agent." 

However  in  1850  Mr.  Willey  did  settle  down.  In  that 
year  he  led  in  founding  Howard  Presbyterian  Church  in  San 
Francisco,  and  as  its  pastor  for  many  years  made  it  a  great 
influence  for  good. 

Among  the  founders  of  this  New  School  Presbyterian 
Church  was  David  N.   Hawley,   a  charter  member  of  the 


66  Religious  Progress  on  the  Pacific  Slope 

First  Congregational,  who  went  to  it  with  true  missionary 
spirit,  behoving  that  it  needed  him  more  than  the  older 
church  did.  He  remained  with  it  45  years,  coming  back 
to  the  Congregational  Church  only  a  short  time  before  it 
celebrated  its  50th  anniversary  in  1899. 

Another  first  member  of  Howard  Church  was  S.  S.  Smith, 
uniting  for  similar  reasons,  who  entered  later  into  Plymouth 
Church,  became  the  father  of  much  of  San  Francisco 
Congregationahsm,  and  one  of  four  who  kept  The  Pacific 
on  its  useful  career  from  1879  to  1896. 

The  college  on  which  Dr.  Willey  had  set  his  heart  came  in 
due  time.  That  college,  which  became  in  later  years  the 
nucleus  of  the  University  of  California,  had  its  inception  in 
May,  1853,  in  the  Congregational  church  building  in  the  little 
mountain  town  of  Nevada  —  the  bell  in  the  tower  of  which 
had  first  sounded  the  call  to  worship  in  our  mountains,  the 
little  church  in  which  a  few  years  later  Free  Soil  men  and 
Republicans  met  in  mass  convention  in  the  interest  of  freedom. 

A  few  Congregational  and  New  School  Presbyterian  minis- 
ters were  there  in  joint  annual  convention.  Action  taken  that 
10th  day  of  May,  1853,  by  sixteen  ministers  and  a  few  laymen, 
resulted  in  the  opening  soon  of  an  academy  in  Oakland  under 
the  direction  of  Henry  Durant.  When  a  little  later  this  had 
developed  into  the  College  of  California,  those  dreams  of  1849 
were  reahzed,  and  Samuel  H.  Willey  was  for  several  years  its 
vice-president  and  the  actual  head  as  acting  president. 

We  pass  over  the  years  of  his  long  and  useful  life  in  Cali- 
fornia, remarking  only  that  it  was  fitting  that  in  the  year  1910 
President  Wheeler  of  the  University  of  Cahfornia,  at  the  50th 
anniversary,  should  ask  him  to  step  to  the  front  on  the  plat- 
form of  the  Greek  Theatre,  and  there  in  the  presence  of  ten 
thousand  persons  call  him  "  The  foremost  benefactor  of 
California,"  and  confer  on  him  the  degree  of  doctor  of  laws. 
This,  for  the  first  commissioned  home  missionary  for  Cali- 
fornia! whose  text  for  his  first  sermon  in  the  territory  was, 


The  Protestant  Church  67 

"We  preach   Christ  and    Him   crucified."      Theme:   "The 
Gospel  and  the  Gospel  Only  is  our  Errand  to  California." 

When  President  Wheeler  thus  honored  and  crowned  Sam- 
uel H.  Willey,  he  honored  also  indirectly  a  great  host  of 
gospel  heralds  who  have  built  their  hves  into  our  enduring 
structures. 

Other  Men   of  Far-Reaching   Influence 

If  I  were  asked  to  name  the  two  men  who  have  exercised 
the  greatest,  the  most  far-reaching  and  abiding  influence  on 
the  Pacific  Coast,  I  would  take  one  in  Oregon,  one  in  Cali- 
fornia. Both  were  heralds  of  the  gospel.  One  came  in  1848 
—  to  Oregon;  the  other  much  later  —  to  California. 

Consider  first  the  one  in  Oregon:  When  in  the  year  1889 
the  Rev.  Dr.  George  H.  Atkinson  passed  into  the  other  life 
from  his  home  in  Portland,  President  Eaton  of  Marietta 
College  wrote  in  The  Pacific  concerning  him:  "  Dr.  Atkinson 
was  one  of  the  most  completely  rounded  men  I  ever  knew." 
Dr.  Eaton  was  for  sixteen  years  United  States  Commissioner 
of  Education,  and  he  has  testified  to  a  great  indebtedness  to 
this  Oregon  pioneer  preacher-statesman.  ■ 

Dr.  Atkinson  discerned  with  unusual  clearness  the  rela- 
tion Christianity  had  to  all  the  affairs  of  life,  and  was  alert 
to  aid  in  every  form  of  human  progress.  Great  was  his  part 
in  promoting  civil  and  rehgious  institutions;  great  also  his 
part  in  the  development  of  the  agricultural  and  commercial 
interests  of  the  Pacific  Northwest.  All  was  done  without 
any  neglect  of  his  duties  as  pastor  or  home  missionary  superin- 
tendent; all  as  he  did  it  seemed  part  of  one  great  whole. 

In  conversation  one  day  with  General  Lane,  Oregon's 
first  Territorial  Governor,  he  spoke  of  the  estabhshing  of 
free  schools.  The  Governor  asked  him  to  set  forth  his  views 
fully  in  writing.  The  substance  of  what  he  wrote  was  in- 
corporated in  Lane's  message  to  the  first  Territorial  Legisla- 
ture in  July,  1849.     A  little  later  at  the  request  of  the  Cover- 


68  Religious  Progress  on  the  Pacific  Slope 

nor  he  drafted  a  school  law  which  the  legislature  passed  sub- 
stantially as  drafted.  This  stands  as  the  basis  of  the  school 
law  of  Oregon  today  —  the  only  modifications  being  such  as 
to  adapt  it  to  changed  conditions  due  to  the  large  increase  in 
population. 

Dr.  Atkinson  was  a  student  of  the  operations  of  nature  as 
well  as  of  the  affairs  of  men.  Years  before  there  was  much 
thought  about  the  region  contained  in  the  valley  of  the  Upper 
Columbia  being  fit  for  anything  but  bunch-grass  grazing,  he 
made  chemical  analysis  of  the  soil  and  foretold  its  future 
greatness. 

In  an  address  at  the  funeral  services  held  in  Portland  on 
the  28th  of  February,  1889,  Dr.  Clapp  spoke  of  him  as  "  the 
most  eminent  citizen  of  Oregon."  His  motto  was,  "  Oregon 
for  Christ  —  through  all  the  channels  of  public  and  private 
activity."  Never  was  he  lured  from  his  one  lofty  aim  by  a 
desire  for  or  chance  for  wealth,  or  by  ambition  for  anything 
except  to  put  the  impress  of  Christianity  on  what  he  foresaw 
was  some  day  to  be  one  of  the  most  magnificent  parts  of  our 
domain. 

Another  pioneer  minister  in  Oregon  who  left  wide  impress 
on  the  State  was  the  Rev.  Harvey  K.  Hines  of  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church.  At  the  age  of  sixteen  he  was  an  exhorter 
in  the  State  of  New  York.  Coming  to  Oregon  in  1852,  he 
began  a  memorable  pastorate  in  the  First  Methodist  Church 
in  Portland  in  October,  1853.  Pastor  for  sixteen  years,  presid- 
ing elder  for  sixteen  years,  editor  of  the  Pacific  Christian 
Advocate  for  eight  —  his  was  a  remarkably  useful  life.  It  is 
probable  that  he  traveled  more  miles  in  the  accomplishment 
of  his  work  than  any  other  Oregon  pioneer  —  the  distance 
aggregating  not  less  than  180,000  miles.  He  held  900  quar- 
terly meetings,  dedicated  54  churches,  and  represented  his 
Church  in  various  capacities  all  over  the  land. 

Alongside  these  two  Oregon  pioneer  church  workers  I 
would  place  a  man  who  did  not  enter  on  his  work  there  until 


The  Protestant  Church  69 

1868,  and  who  though  at  that  date  51  years  old  did  for  eight- 
een years  thereafter  a  remarkable  work.  This  is  the  Rev. 
Dr.  Lindsley  of  the  First  Presbyterian  Church  of  Portland 
up  to  1885,  and  afterwards  professor  in  the  Presbyterian 
Theological  Seminary  at  San  Anselmo.  He,  too,  was  a  Chris- 
tian statesman.  He  hves  on,  not  only  all  over  Oregon,  but 
away  up  in  Alaska,  having  introduced  in  the  face  of  great 
difl&culties  American  Christian  missions  and  Christian  educa- 
tion in  that  far  north  territory. 

Woefully  incomplete  would  be  any  statement  as  to  the 
rehgious  forces  operating  in  our  great  Northwest  which  did 
not  mention  Cushing  Eells,  one  of  the  missionary  recruits  of 
1838. 

Whitman  College  was  named  after  Dr.  Marcus  Whitman 
because  Eells  desired  it  to  be  so  named.  But  it  is  his  own 
monument  nevertheless.  Without  Cushing  Eells  and  his 
noble  helpmeet  who  toiled  and  sacrificed  with  him.  Whitman 
College  would  not  be.  It  is  an  inspiring  story  —  how  the 
Kfe  of  Cushing  Eells  went  not  only  into  Whitman  College, 
but  into  scores  of  churches  all  over  Oregon  and  Wash- 
ington. 

I  have  said  that  great  influences  go  out  from  the  church 
often  with  no  visible  connection  therewith.  I  give  two  nota- 
ble incidents  in  Oregon.  In  1898  WilHam  Hayes  Ward,  editor 
of  The  Independent,  was  asked  to  name  the  ten  best  daily 
papers  in  this  country.  He  named  one  on  the  Pacific  Coast  — 
The  Oregonian.  Harvey  W.  Scott,  the  man  who  made  The 
Oregonian  what  it  was  for  several  decades,  shaping  thought  and 
moulding  hfe  as  but  few  newspapers  ever  have,  was  the  first 
graduate  of  the  college  at  Forest  Grove,  which  grew  out  of 
the  Httle  school  founded  by  some  of  the  early  Oregon  mission- 
aries. 

At  a  time  when  Willamette  University  at  Salem  had  not 
more  than  one  hundred  students  in  its  college  department, 
the  chief  justices  of  the  Supreme  Courts  of  the  three  Pacific 


70  Religious  Progress  on  the  Pacific  Slope 

Northwest  States  were  Willamette  graduates.  Two  others 
on  the  supreme  court  bench  had  been  students  at  Willamette. 
The  Oregonian  stated  editorially  a  few  years  ago  that 
Willamette  University  had  exerted  a  greater  moral  influ- 
ence in  Oregon  than  all  other  forces  combined.  Willamette 
University  was  established  by  the  Church.  It  grew  out 
of  the  Institute  started  in  those  early  years  at  the  Jason 
Lee  Mission. 

Great    Preachers  and  Leaders  in  San  Francisco  and 
Other  Cities 

One  cannot  read  the  story  of  those  formative  years,  those 
first  two  or  three  decades  on  the  Coast,  and  fail  to  realize 
that  many  remarkable  men  were  laboring  here  as  ministers 
in  our  churches  and  in  the  varied  work  of  the  Church  Kingdom. 

The  course  we  have  been  pursuing  has  led  us  already  to  a 
consideration  of  a  few.  Let  us  see  now  how  the  lives  of  others 
have  been  built  into  the  life  and  institutions  of  today. 

There  on  the  plaza  in  San  Francisco  in  1849  WiUiam  Taylor 
dared  to  preach  the  gospel  outdoors  in  the  center  of  the 
saloons  and  gambling  dens  of  that  wicked  city,  and  did  it  as 
tactfully  as  the  Apostle  Paul  had  done  on  Mars  Hill  centuries 
before.  That  was  the  beginning  of  a  seven  years'  campaign 
of  out-door  preaching  in  which  he  moulded  life,  not  only  in 
San  Francisco  but  in  every  mining  camp  and  town  in  Cali- 
fornia. 

In  1850,  in  Sacramento,  the  Rev.  Joseph  A.  Benton  gave  a 
discourse  on  "  California  as  She  Was,  as  She  Is,  and  as  She  Is 
to  Be,"  which  showed  the  prevision  of  the  seer.  He  was 
thought  by  some,  doubtless,  to  be  only  a  brilliant  dreamer 
when  he  said  in  that  discourse:  "  The  world's  center  will 
change;  this  will  be  the  land  of  pilgrimage,  and  no  man 
will  be  thought  to  have  seen  the  world  till  he  has  seen  Cali- 
fornia." And  who  will  say  that  when  he  pictured  the  day 
when  the  iron  horse  would  move  swiftly  over  and  under  our 


The  Protestant  Church  71 

mountains,  the  four  Sacramento  men  who  led  later  in  the 
building  of  the  Central  Pacific  —  and  who  listened  to  him  that 
day  —  did  not  at  that  time  get  their  first  inspiration  for  that 
great  work? 

Agriculture  was  only  an  experiment  at  that  time  in  Cali- 
fornia; and  yet  he  spoke  of  a  day  when  her  valleys  would 
bloom  in  beauty  and  yield  harvests  for  millions  of  people. 

Benton  was  one  of  the  first  editors  of  The  Pacific  —  the 
first  religious  journal  established  in  California  —  and  con- 
tinued to  write  for  it  down  through  the  years.  From  Benton 
as  early  as  1851  began  to  come  those  editorial  and  other  arti- 
cles which  helped  mightily  to  defeat  the  plots  to  introduce 
slavery  into  California.  With  reference  to  the  movement 
to  get  a  convention  for  the  framing  of  a  new  constitution,  in 
which  by  hook  or  crook  the  way  should  be  opened  up  for 
slavery,  I  have  found  it  stated  in  The  Pacific  for  February 
27,  1852,  that  this  was  "  the  first  paper  to  take  an  open  and 
bold  stand  against  the  project." 

The  Congregational  church  building  in  Sacramento,  where 
Benton  was  pastor,  was  freely  offered  to  and  was  used  by  the 
convention  which  chose  the  California  delegates  to  the  national 
convention  which  nominated  Fremont  for  President. 

Benton  was  once  introduced  by  Horace  Bushnell  at  an 
Association  in  Connecticut  as  "  The  father  and  mother  of 
Congregationalism  in  California."  Ever  throughout  his 
life  he  considered  himself  the  servant  of  the  Master  and  of 
His  churches,  and  went  everywhere  to  aid  in  their  upbuilding 
—  often  at  great  inconvenience  and  discomfort  and  sacrifice 
to  himself. 

A  man  whose  influence  in  those  early  years  ranked  in 
several  ways  with  that  of  Benton  was  Martin  C.  Briggs  of 
the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church.  He  arrived  in  October, 
1850,  and  at  once  every  good  cause  found  in  him  a  strong 
supporter.  His  impress  is  on  both  Church  and  State.  One 
of  the  first  editors  of  The  California  Christian  Advocate,  he 


72  Religious  Progress  on  the  Pacific  Slope 

made  that  paper  as  Benton  and  ^Yille3'  and  others  made  The 
Pacific,  one  of  the  mightiest  agencies  in  keeping  slavery  out 
of  Cahfornia  in  those  first  few  years,  and  later  in  1861  in 
keeping  the  State  loyal  to  the  Union. 

Thomas  Starr  King,  perhaps  the  greatest  preacher  San 
Francisco  has  ever  had,  has  been  called  "  the  voice  of  patriot- 
ism." After  the  Southern  States  seceded  in  1861  there  was 
a  strong  sentiment  in  California  in  favor  of  the  South.  In 
order  that  he  might  stimulate  the  patriotism  of  the  loyal, 
arouse  the  lukewarm  and  convince  the  doubters  of  the  wisdom 
of  the  effort  to  save  the  Union,  Starr  King  wrote  some  stirring 
lectures  on  "  Washington  —  Father  of  his  Country  ";  "Lexing- 
ton and  Concord,"  and  "Webster  —  Defender  of  the  Con- 
stitution." He  gave  these  all  over  California,  and  figured 
mightily  in  the  verdict  at  the  polls  in  September  which  stamped 
the  State  as  unalterably  loyal.  Later,  as  representative  of 
the  Government  Sanitary  Commission,  in  a  speech  in  San 
Francisco,  he  thrilled  and  swayed  an  immense  audience  in  a 
manner  never  equaled  here  except  by  that  Christian  layman. 
Col.  Edward  Dickinson  Baker,  in  1860,  en  route  to  Wash- 
ington as  United  States  Senator  for  Oregon. 

From  1856  to  1864  there  stood  in  the  pulpit  of  the  First 
Congregational  Church  of  San  Francisco  and  ministered  to 
the  people  in  ways  manifold  a  man  of  whom  it  was  said  by 
The  Pacific  editorially  when  he  passed  to  the  other  life  in  1875, 
"  The  dignity  of  a  grand  manhood  was  in  all  he  said  and  did. 
He  trifled  with  nothing.  He  Hfted  everything  up  to  the  level 
of  his  own  plane  of  thoughtful  movement."  It  was  said  at 
that  time  that  the  years  of  Mr.  Lacy's  laborious  work  here 
were  few  but  they  were  influential  and  decisive  years  and 
shaped  many  an  issue.  They  ran  on  from  the  sudden  revolu- 
tion in  municipal  affairs  in  San  Francisco  nearly  to  the  close 
of  the  great  national  conflict.  From  the  first  Lacy  was  one  of 
the  most  loyal  and  enthusiastic  of  ministers  —  a  man  who 
blew  a  trumpet  of  no  uncertain  sound. 


Professor   Gkoroi:    Mooar,    D.D. 


The  Protestant  Church  73 

It  was  in  the  First  Congregational  Church  in  San  Fran- 
cisco, during  Mr.  Lacy's  pastorate,  that  Juha  Ward  Howe's 
"  Battle  Hymn  of  the  RepubHc  "  was  sung  first  to  the  tune 
of  "  John  Brown,"  and  swept  swiftly  then  over  the  land. 

Memorable  in  Congregational  annals  in  California  is  the 
year  1861.  On  the  6th  of  May  of  that  year  there  began  in 
Oakland  a  pastorate  in  the  ten  years'  course  of  which  the 
sohd  and  enduring  foundations  of  the  First  Congregational 
Church  of  that  city  were  laid.  Charles  R.  Brown,  during  the 
years  of  his  great  work  here  decades  later,  often  referred  to  his 
indebtedness  to  George  Mooar,  the  first  pastor  of  that  Oak- 
land church  —  as  well  as  to  his  indebtedness  to  John  Knox 
McLean,  the  second  pastor. 

In  and  through  that  ten  years'  pastorate,  the  one  later 
in  Plymouth  Avenue  Church,  and  his  thirty-two  years  of 
service  in  this  School  of  Rehgion,  and  through  his  editorial 
work  on  The  Pacific,  the  influence  of  Dr.  Mooar  went  out  to 
the  ends  of  the  earth.  Measure  that  life  alone  by  the  in- 
fluence of  the  life  of  Jee  Gam  and  his  descendants  in  China, 
and  it  is  infinite  in  its  sweep. 

In  The  Pacific,  in  January,  1904,  after  this  princely  man 
had  gone  from  us,  H.  E.  Jewett  said:  "  Dr.  Mooar  has  given 
us  such  a  conspicuous  example  of  a  gentle  nature,  a  simple 
faith,  a  spiritual  life  on  earth,  that  for  a  long  time  to  come  it 
will  be  remembered  among  us  how  for  more  than  two  score 
years  there  was  a  man  among  us  who  was  an  Enoch  among  the 
patriarchs,  a  St.  John  among  the  apostles,  an  Abou  ben 
Adhem  among  his  fellow-men  —  a  man  of  whom  all  are  re- 
minded when  they  read:  "  The  fruit  of  the  Spirit  is  love,  joy, 
peace,  long-suffering,  kindness,  goodness,  faithfulness,  meek- 
ness, self-control." 

The  year  1863  brought  to  California  another  who  was 
destined  to  prove  of  great  worth  to  the  State.  The  churches 
were  leavening  all  life  wonderfully  in  those  early  years,  but 
as  to  membership  they  were  of  slow  growth.     The  church 


74  Religious  Progress  on  the  Pacific  Slope 

in  Sacramento  founded  by  Benton  in  1849  had  only  80  mem- 
bers in  1863,  but  it  had  large  influence  in  our  capital  city. 

Not  always  has  a  New  England  minister  of  years  of  ex- 
perience in  the  pastorate  there  been  successfully  transplanted 
in  the  far  west.  But  Israel  Dwinell  was  at  once  as  great  a 
success  in  Sacramento  as  he  had  been  in  Salem,  Massachusetts. 

When  after  five  years  in  Sacramento,  Pacific  Theological 
Seminary  sought  him  as  its  first  professor,  church  and  city 
unitedly  and  without  exception  bestirred  themselves  to  keep 
him.  So  weighty  was  the  evidence  of  Dr.  Dwinell's  great 
usefulness  as  pastor  in  the  capital  city,  so  intense  was  the 
feehng  of  the  church,  that  the  council  that  had  been  called  to 
sever  the  pastoral  relations  could  not  advise  that  it  be 
done.  When  fifteen  years  later  Dr.  Dwinell  did  come  to  the 
seminary,  it  was  said  that  Sacramento  had  lost  her  chief 
citizen. 

The  Lure  of  the  Western  Shore 

In  the  first  twenty-five  years  of  her  existence  San  Fran- 
cisco had  several  of  the  greatest  preachers  to  be  found  any- 
where in  the  land.  There  seemed  to  be  with  many  the 
thought  that  here  in  this  new  city  on  the  shores  of  the  western 
sea  their  hves  could  be  made  to  count  for  more  than  else- 
where. When  the  First  Congregational  Church  was  seeking 
a  successor  to  Lacy,  scarcely  any  one  in  the  East  would  have 
deemed  it  possible  for  them  to  pull  the  Rev.  Dr.  Andrew  L. 
Stone  away  from  the  historic  Park  Street  Church,  Boston, 
where  he  had  been  pastor  for  seventeen  years.  Nevertheless, 
when  written  to  concerning  the  matter  Dr.  Stone  replied: 
"  If  I  could  do  for  California  what  Starr  King  did  there  for 
loyalty,  and  for  Christ  much  more,  it  would  be  the  crowning 
ambition  of  my  Kfe."  Park  Street  would  not  give  him  up  at 
first.  New  England  refused  by  council  to  allow  him  to  come. 
But  somehow  San  Francisco  and  Cahfornia  had  won  his  heart, 
and  in  1866,  the  call  being  renewed,  he  entered  on  one  of  the 


The  Protestant  Church  75 

most  memorable  pastorates  the  Pacific  Coast  has  ever  known. 
His  sermons  were  of  remarkable  polish,  his  delivery  chaste 
beyond  compare.  Long  after  Dr.  Stone  had  ceased  to  preach 
in  the  Old  First  Church  many  of  his  hearers  whenever  they 
entered  that  house  of  worship  seemed  to  hear  his  beautiful 
tones  in  sermon  and  in  prayer  sounding  on  in  that  sacred  room. 

It  was  in  the  latter  part  of  that  first  twenty-five  year  period 
that  Dr.  Thomas  Guard  soared  to  high  flights  of  eloquence 
in  Central  Methodist  Church  and  crowded  at  every  service 
the  spacious  auditorium  with  eager  listeners.  One  who  had 
heard  such  great  orators  as  Beecher,  Hall,  Simpson,  Fowler 
and  Ingersoll  has  written  of  Guard:  "I  have  never  before 
or  since  found  just  the  same  quality  of  eloquence  as  was  part 
of  Guard's  speech.  There  was  an  endless  reach  of  descrip- 
tion. He  always  seemed  in  the  land  of  beauty  whose  paths 
were  endless  or  ran  in  circles." 

Faulty  indeed  would  be  any  hst  of  church  leaders  in  San 
Francisco  in  the  first  quarter  century  which  did  not  include 
Drs.  Scott,  Wadsworth,  Eells,  Scudder  and  Stebbins.  Con- 
cerning Dr.  Scott  it  has  been  said  that  "  his  mind  was  a 
storehouse  of  truth  and  illustration,  and  that  with  con- 
vincing argument  and  impassioned  eloquence  he  preached 
the  gospel." 

Wadsworth  had  none  of  the  graces  of  the  orator,  but  in 
his  sermons  "  he  reasoned  like  Newton  and  dreamed  like 
Milton."  While  he  was  pastor.  Calvary  Presbyterian  Church 
was  thronged  by  men  and  women  from  all  the  ranks  of  life, 
"  the  believer  and  the  unbeliever,  all  fascinated  by  the  marvel- 
ous words  of  the  mighty  man,"  wrote  Woods  in  his  "  Lights  and 
Shadows  of  Pacific  Coast  Life." 

Dr.  Stebbins,  the  successor  of  Starr  King,  had  a  style  that 
was  dehberate  and  stately.  It  was  this  and  the  crystal  clear- 
ness of  his  thought  which  made  him  impressive.  It  was  said 
of  him  by  The  California  Christian  Advocate  at  the  time  of  his 
death:  "In  the  higher  speculative  phases  of  doctrine  he  was 


76  Religious  Progress  on  the  Pacific  Slope 

Unitarian,  but  in  all  the  vital  principles  affecting  human 
character  and  responsibihty  he  was  Bibhcal.  ...  He  was  a 
great  citizen,  and  has  an  enduring  place  among  the  men  who 
have  contributed  their  ability  and  their  unselfish  life  to  the 
construction  of  our  commonwealth." 

When  Dr.  Eells  left  the  pastorate  of  the  First  Presbyterian 
Church  in  Oakland  in  1879,  a  prominent  citizen  remarked: 
"  What  a  grand  statesman  Dr.  Eells  would  have  made  had  he 
turned  his  talents  that  way!  " 


Men  Who  Went  into  the  Wilderness 

From  the  very  beginning  very  many  ministers  of  excep- 
tional abihty  and  with  fitness  also  for  pioneering  were  led  to 
California.  They  were  located  not  only  in  the  cities  by  the 
Golden  Gate,  but  throughout  the  State.  They  seem  to  have 
been  raised  up  and  prepared  by  God  for  their  work  in  hfe 
just  as  truly  as  Moses  was  for  his  great  work  long  ago. 
And  many  of  them  had  preparation  in  the  wilderness  for 
works  of  which  they  never  even  dreamed. 

There  is  no  Shasta  City  now  in  California,  but  in  the  be- 
ginnings here  Shasta  City  was  an  important  place  of  con- 
siderable size  —  the  end  of  a  stage  and  wagon  road  over 
which  passengers  and  suppHes  were  taken  to  mines  in  the 
Coast  Range  Mountains.  It  was  the  place  of  transfer  from 
wheeled  vehicles  to  mule  trains.  The  Home  Missionary 
stationed  at  Shasta  City  by  one  of  the  mission  boards  was 
Martin  V.  Kellogg.  We  find  him  writing  in  1856  concerning 
the  cheerless  aspect  of  the  work,  the  lack  of  Christian  sym- 
pathy and  co-operation  —  compelled  to  labor  almost  single- 
handed  in  the  midst  of  great  desolations,  remarking  at  length: 
"  Well  is  it  for  us  that  there  are  hallowed  hours  of  soul- 
elevation,  when  our  visions  are  not  of  the  earth,  and  faith  draws 
down  the  steadying  power  of  the  world  to  come;  "  and  finally, 
"  After  all  there  is  a  peculiar  pleasure  in  such  labors.     There  is 


The  Protestant  Church  77 

a  stern,  impatient  joy  in  entering  such  a  conflict  —  a  higher 
exhilaration  than  the  noblest  worldly  enterprise  can  give." 

A  faithful  worker  then  and  alway,  it  was  said  concerning 
him  in  1903,  when  he  passed  into  the  other  life  —  said  by 
President  Wheeler  of  the  University  of  California:  '*  Taking 
all  things  into  consideration,  I  believe  there  is  no  man  whose 
service  for  the  University  can  be  matched  against  that  of 
Dr.  Kellogg." 

In  those  years  when  the  drift  was  away  from  the  mining 
towns  scores  of  churches  became  extinct.  It  would  be  of 
interest  to  note  the  influences  sent  on  down  the  years  by  not  a 
few  of  these.  One  or  two  references  must  suffice:  Iowa  Hill 
is  no  longer  on  the  map,  but  from  San  Francisco  to  Honolulu, 
from  Mexico  to  British  Columbia,  Dr.  Walter  Frear  has  been 
on  the  map  in  devoted  able  service  all  the  years  since  he  la- 
bored as  home  missionary  in  that  mining  town  in  1856. 

One  Sunday  in  the  50's  a  young  man  went  down  from 
his  mining  camp  on  the  mountain  summit  to  the  pretty  little 
village  of  Downieville  nestling  among  the  pines  on  the  Yuba. 
Noticing  a  man  going  about  vigorously  swinging  and  ringing 
a  dinner  bell,  he  asked  who  the  man  was  and  what  it  meant. 
The  reply  was :  "  Deacon  Tracy  of  the  Congregational  Church ; 
he  rings  the  bell  for  the  meetings  and  does  all  the  chores." 
It  was  Deacon  Tracy's  bell  that  led  that  young  man  into  the 
sanctuary  that  morning.  His  Christian  life  began  in  Downie- 
ville. That  church  passed  out  of  existence  long  ago,  but 
James  M.  Haven's  life  went  on  many  years  as  one  of  the  most 
helpful  and  useful  in  the  First  Congregational  Church  of 
Oakland.  Dr.  Pond  has  estimated  that  in  legal  services 
alone  Judge  Haven  gave  to  California  Congregationalism  at 
least  $25,000.  Deacon  Tracy  duplicated  his  helpfulness  in 
Downieville  for  many  years  in  Sacramento,  and  from  the  same 
little  church  went  Mr.  and  Mrs.  W.  K.  Bent  to  immeasurable 
service  in  the  formative  years  in  Southern  Cahfornia.  W.  C. 
Pond,  the  mountain  town's  pastor,  in  the  work  he  has  been 


78  Religious  Progress  on  the  Pacific  Slope 

doing  in  California  many  years  among  the  Orientals,  has  laid 
foundations  on  which  great  rehgious  superstructures  will  be 
built  during  the  20th  century. 


The  Man  of  Largest  Influence 

I  have  not  yet  named  the  second  of  the  two  men  who,  I  think, 
have  exercised  the  greatest  influence  on  the  coast.  The  one 
of  California  came  in  1872.  His  pastorate  of  nearly  twenty- 
five  years  in  Oakland  fittingly  has  been  called  Christ-like  and 
statesman-like.  It  moulded  the  lives  of  many  persons  who 
have  in  the  years  since  that  influence  was  exerted  figured 
usefully  and  prominently  in  the  life  of  the  State,  the  nation, 
the  world.  I  have  thought  at  times  that  the  future  would 
record  the  work  of  John  Knox  McLean  in  that  pastorate, 
reaching  out  in  influence  as  it  did  all  over  California  and  the 
coast,  as  his  greatest  work.  But  I  question  it  when  I  con- 
template what  he  has  been  to  this  School  of  Religion  —  espe- 
cially in  getting  it  permanently  established  —  in  the  face  of 
considerable  opposition  —  in  proximity  to  our  great  Uni- 
versity. 

I  believe  that  Professor  Le  Conte  was  correct  when  he  said 
at  the  25th  anniversary  of  Dr.  McLean's  coming  to  Oakland 
that  the  scientist  as  well  as  the  preacher  is  a  priest  of  God. 

And  so  I  hail  the  "  togetherness  "  brought  about  by  this 
Christian  statesman  —  here  on  the  shores  of  our  western  sea, 
looking  out,  as  we  do,  on  our  next-door  neighbors  in  the  Orient, 
and  contemplating  the  various  syntheses  that  are  to  be  worked 
out  in  the  20th  century. 

I  have  no  doubt  that  within  the  next  fifty  years  the  value 
of  this  School  of  Religion  contiguous  to  the  University  of 
California  will  be  seen  to  be  such  as  to  lead  people,  when 
they  estimate  Dr.  McLean's  life  and  labors  in  this  and  other 
ways,  to  declare  him  the  man  of  the  greatest  worth  to  the 
Pacific  Coast  in  his  day  and  generation. 


The  Protestant  Church  79 


The  Later  Years 


We  must  move  swiftly  now  over  the  years  down  to  the  close 
of  the  century. 

The  completion  of  the  transcontinental  railway  in  1869 
marked  a  new  era  for  Cahfornia.  The  State  increased  in 
population  from  1870  to  1880  about  50  per  cent.  But  the  in- 
crease in  church  membership  was  100  per  cent. 

In  1883  the  Northern  Pacific  was  built  through  to  Port- 
land; in  1884  the  Union  Pacific;  and  in  1887  the  connecting 
railway  link  between  California  and  Oregon  was  put  in. 

In  the  decade  between  1880  and  1890  the  Kingdom  of  God 
made  great  advances  all  over  the  coast.  During  that  period 
in  Southern  Cahfornia  there  came  into  existence  nearly  200 
Protestant  churches.  The  Congregational  churches  in  South- 
ern California  increased  in  ten  years  then  from  8  in  number  to 
70,  and  in  membership  from  500  to  5,000;  and  all  the  leading 
denominations  had  remarkable  growth. 

The  two  or  three  decades  after  1885  witnessed  the  most 
gratifying  growth  of  the  churches.  It  was  about  the  middle  of 
the  period  between  1880  and  1890  that  there  began  a  great 
immigration  to  California,  especially  to  the  Southern  part  of 
the  State,  and  to  Washington  and  Oregon.  In  Southern 
Cahfornia,  after  the  millionaires  of  a  day  had  come  and  gone, 
when  speculation  in  town  sites  and  lots  was  no  longer  a  craze, 
people  came  and  settled  down  to  develop  the  country  in  real 
solid  fashion. 

Up  in  the  Northwest  thousands  went  out  on  those  lands 
the  value  of  which  Dr.  Atkinson  had  foretold  years  before 
and  homes  with  an  abundance  of  material  things  were  to  be 
counted  soon  all  over  those  vast  bunch-grass  valleys  and  hills. 
Little  cities  with  marvelous  future  promise  began  to  be;  the 
foundations  of  churches  were  laid  everywhere  and  they  shared 
in  the  on-going  years  the  growth  in  other  ways.  There  was 
soHdity,  there  was  stability  in  it,  in  general,  such  as  there  had 


80  Religious  Progress  on  the  Pacific  Slope 

not  been  before  in  church  hfe  and  work  on  the  coast.  And 
progressively  this  has  been  the  case  through  the  years  to  the 
present. 

An  examination  of  the  statistics  of  reUgious  bodies  gathered 
by  the  United  States  Census  bureau  in  1906  and  a  comparison 
with  1890  shows  an  advance  in  Cahfornia  of  all  denominations 
from  280,619  members  to  611,464. 

But  the  population  of  the  State  during  that  period  went 
from  1,213,398  to  only  1,648,049. 

In  that  sixteen-year  period  the  population  of  California 
increased  about  20  per  cent.;  the  church  membership  in- 
creased 118  per  cent. 

In  Washington  the  population  increased  75  per  cent. ;  the 
church  membership  338. 

In  Oregon  the  growth  in  population  was  approximately 
50  per  cent. ;  the  church  growth  170. 

This,  as  to  the  Church!  Far  more  as  to  the  Church  King- 
dom! Marvelous  has  been  the  leavening  influence  of  the 
Church  during  these  years!  Only  infinite  mind  can  measure 
it.  All  these  years  the  Kingdom  of  God  has  been  coming, 
has  been  growing  on  our  Coast,  outside  the  Church.  Pioneer 
missionaries  often  chronicled  the  external  growth,  and  re- 
joiced over  it  reservedly  —  lamenting  the  while  that  there 
was  so  Httle  internal  growth.  But  it  is  reahzed  more  widely 
today  that  that  for  which  Christ  came  to  earth  is  being  ac- 
complished wherever  the  Christ  spirit  operates  to  make  lives 
more  Christ-like.  It  may  be  only  to  a  degree;  but  it  is  al- 
ways "  first  the  blade,  then  the  ear,  then  the  full  corn  in  the 
ear." 

This  progressive  permeating  of  society,  of  world-civiliza- 
tion, with  the  Christ  spirit  is  suggestive  of  what  the  Seer  on 
Patmos  foresaw  —  a  city  in  which  there  was  to  be  seen  no 
temple,  the  Lord  God  Almighty  and  the  Lamb  being  the 
temple  thereof. 

Standing  now  on  the  summit  of  eighty  years  since  that  little 


The  Protestant  Church  81 

band  of  missionaries  knelt  on  the  western  slope  of  the  Rocky- 
Mountains  and  took  possession  of  this  side  of  the  continent 
for  Christ  and  the  Church,  we  see  that  it  is  indeed  a  summit; 
great  things  have  been  done  in  and  for  the  Church  Kingdom! 
And  as  we  look  backward  and  forward  from  this  summit  we 
realize  and  say  as  one  of  our  great  poets  —  a  Pacific  Coast 
poet  —  has  said: 

"Aye  the  world  is  a  better  old  world  today! 
And  a  great  good  mother  this  earth  of  ours; 
Her  white  tomorrows  are  a  white  stairway 
To  lead  us  up  to  the  far  star  flowers  — 
The  spiral  tomorrows  that  one  by  one 
We  climb  and  we  cUmb  in  the  face  of  the  sim." 


Chapter  V 

COLLEGE  AND  UNIVERSITY  EDUCATION  ON  THE 
PACIFIC  COAST 

Rev.  Bert  Jasper   Morris,  B.D.,  Ph.D., 

Professor  of  Philosophy,  College  of  the  Pacific 

When  attention  is  directed  to  the  origin  of  higher  education 
on  the  Pacific  slope,  it  is  at  once  evident  that  different  types 
of  institutions  arose  in  different  regions.  One  type  sprang  up 
in  the  North  Pacific  country,  another  in  the  Central,  and  still 
another  in  the  South.  These  types  may  best  be  characterized 
by  a  review  of  the  conditions  under  which  they  arose. 

Directing  our  attention  first  to  the  North,  pohtically 
represented  by  the  states  of  Washington  and  Oregon,  we  find 
facts  the  mere  recital  of  which  thrills  us  and  sends  the  blood 
tingling  through  our  veins,  like  the  missionary  experiences  of 
the  Apostle  Paul.  In  the  first  decades  of  the  nineteenth  century, 
the  North  Pacific  Coast  was  a  wilderness,  touched  by  modern 
civihzation  only  in  a  commercial  way.  British  fur-trading 
companies,  especially  the  Hudson  Bay  Company,  had  planted 
forts  and  estabhshed  trapping  stations  in  many  sections,  but 
the  British  made  no  serious  attempts  to  found  a  civihzation. 
Even  after  the  Lewis  and  Clark  Exploration  in  1803-06,  very 
httle  was  done  by  our  own  government  to  estabhsh  permanent 
settlements.  However  during  their  stay  in  the  Northwest, 
Lewis  and  Clark  became  greatly  interested  in  the  Indians  and 
the  Indians  became  interested  in  their  civilization.  Of  special 
interest  to  them  was  the  white  man's  book  that  told  of  the 
Great  Spirit.  So  great  was  the  interest  in  this  book  that  the 
Flathead  tribe  sent  four  of  their  number  all  the  way  to  St. 
Louis  to  secure  a  copy  of  it.  There  they  met  General  Clark, 
who  entertained  them  at  dinners  and  banquets  and  conveyed 

82 


College  Education  on  the  Pacific  Slope  83 

them  about  the  city  to  see  the  various  sights.  Due,  perhaps, 
to  too  much  banqueting,  two  of  the  Indians  became  violently 
ill  and  suddenly  died.  After  the  death  of  their  comrades  the 
other  two  returned  home  without  a  copy  of  the  Book. 

"  Is  it  true  that  those  Indians  came  all  that  distance  for  a 
book  of  the  Great  Spirit?  "  asked  Cathn,  the  Indian  artist, 
of  General  Clark  one  day.  "  They  came  for  that  and  nothing 
else,"  repUed  General  Clark.  A  young  clerk  in  the  office 
overheard  the  conversation  and  wrote  of  the  matter  to  a 
friend  in  the  East.  The  report  reached  the  papers.  It 
swept  through  the  country  like  the  Macedonian  cry  of  old. 
"  Who  will  carry  the  Book  of  the  Great  Spirit  to  the  Flat- 
head Indians  of  the  Northwest?  "  The  cry  came  to  a  leader  of 
the  Methodist  Church,  who  said:  "  I  know  of  but  one  man  — 
Jason  Lee."  "  Like  the  voice  of  God,  Jason  Lee  heard  the 
call.  In  a  day  he  tore  himself  from  the  entreaty  of  his  friends 
to  enter  upon  a  journey  that  was  not  ended  in  a  year."  Lee 
was  followed  by  other  missionaries  and  these  were  accom- 
panied, or  followed,  by  traders. 

Whether  missionaries  or  traders,  the  men  who  opened  the 
way  to  civilization  in  this  region  were  of  strong,  sturdy 
character.  They  faced  the  hardships  of  the  perilous  and 
lonely  journey  of  three  thousand  miles,  not  for  the  mere  love 
of  adventure  and  exploration,  not  for  the  lure  of  wealth  or  the 
love  of  fame,  but  to  fill  that  great  empire  with  a  civihzed 
people.  Such  men  and  women  —  for  women  braved  these 
dangers  too  —  were  the  very  salt  of  the  earth;  sturdy,  strong, 
resolute,  courageous,  unbaffled  by  hardships,  undaunted  by 
dangers,  unwearied  by  prolonged  trudging  through  unknown 
and  unblazed  wildernesses  —  just  the  human  stuff  that  makes 
martyrs,  missionaries,  and  pioneers  in  Christian  civilization. 

I  have  referred  to  Jason  Lee.  We  will  hear  more  about  him 
later.  Let  us  pause  here  long  enough  to  get  a  picture  from 
the  real  life  of  one  of  the  trappers.  Captain  Wyeth.  "  Late 
one  evening  in  the  autumn  of  1832,"  Mrs.  Eve  Emery  Dye 


84  Religious  Progress  on  the  Pacific  Slope 

tells  us,  "  a  salute  was  fired  at  the  gates  of  Fort  Vancouver," 
the  headquarters  of  Dr.  John  McLoughlin,  the  governor  of 
the  Hudson  Bay  Company.  When  the  governor  ordered  the 
gates  to  be  opened,  thinking  that  it  might  be  some  belated 
trapper  from  the  far-away  Oregon  wild,  "  in  stepped  eleven 
strangers,  clad  all  in  leather,  dripping  with  rain,  and  garnished 
with  as  many  weapons  as  Robin  Hood  in  Sherwood  Forest." 
As  Governor  McLoughlin  fixed  his  keen  eye  upon  the  way- 
farers, the  tall,  wiry  leader  said: 

"  Wyeth  is  my  name;  Nathaniel  J.  Wyeth  from  Boston; 
on  a  trading  trip  to  the  Columbia." 

"  Bless  me!"  cried  the  amazed  McLoughlin,  extending  his 
hand.  "  Bless  me!  'tis  a  marvelous  journey.  Few  could 
survive  it." 

Wyeth  studied  the  conditions  of  fur  trapping  in  the  North- 
west all  that  winter  and  in  the  spring  returned  on  the  long 
journey  overland  to  Boston.  In  1834  he  again  came  to  the 
Columbia.  For  two  years  he  competed  in  fur-trading  with 
the  great  Hudson  Bay  Company,  but  was  finally  forced  to 
give  up.  On  his  final  return  home  in  1836,  as  Mrs.  Dye  puts 
it,  "  he  met  a  vision  in  the  mountains,  a  beautiful  woman 
with  golden  hair  and  snowy  brow,  riding  like  Joan  of  old  to 
conquest,  Narcissa  Whitman.  With  her  rode  Ehza  Spalding, 
a  slender,  dark-eyed  devotee,  who  back  in  the  States  had 
knelt  in  a  lonely  wayside  inn  to  consecrate  her  heart  to  Oregon. 
Two  brides  went  on  that  wonderful  journey,  farther  than 
flew  the  imperial  eagles  of  Rome,  to  their  life-work  on  the 
Columbia. 

"  Two  brides:  there  is  a  romance  about  modern  missions 
that  the  apostolic  fathers  never  knew,  —  two  missionary 
brides  were  the  first  white  women  to  cross  the  continent. 

"  Two  grooms,  knights-errant,  rode  at  their  sides:  Marcus 
Whitman,  a  young  physician,  strong,  resolute,  with  fire  in  his 
deep  blue  eyes  and  courage  imprinted  on  every  feature  to  the 
tips  of  his  auburn  curls.     He,  too,  had  heard  of  the  Flathead 


College  Education  on  the  Pacific  Slope  85 

messengers  seeking  the  white  man's  Book  of  the  Great  Spirit; 
Henry  Spalding,  a  youth,  long,  lank,  prematurely  wrinkled 
and  sharp-featured  with  thought,  too,  was  fired  with  apostolic 
ardor," 

These  four  made  up  the  first  missionary  party  to  Oregon, 
When  they  started  "  Cincinnati  was  a  village  in  the  woods; 
Chicago  unknown;  St.  Louis,  the  end  of  the  West.  Oregon 
was  a  foreign  land  in  those  days."  It  would  be  interesting 
to  trace  their  journey  from  St.  Louis  to  their  mission  near  the 
present  site  of  Whitman  College,  but  the  limits  of  the  paper 
will  not  permit  this.  In  passing  we  merely  remark  that  what 
the  Apostle  Paul  said  of  his  journeys  could  also  be  said  of  this 
journey:  "  In  perils  of  robbers,  in  perils  by  the  heathen, 
in  perils  in  the  wilderness,  in  weariness  and  painfulness,  in 
watchings  often,  in  hunger  and  thirst,  in  fastings  often,  in  cold 
and  nakedness." 

When  we  recall  that  the  Northwest  was  settled  with  people 
like  these,  is  it  surprising  that  the  type  of  school  that  sprang  up 
in  this  region  of  the  Coast  was  a  strong,  virile,  Christian  in- 
stitution? Higher  education  on  the  North  Pacific  slope  was 
not  only  born  in  a  missionary  atmosphere,  it  has  been  nurtured 
in  that  spirit  down  almost  to  the  present  time.  The  senti- 
ment of  that  part  of  the  Coast  has  been  slow,  very  slow,  in 
coming  to  what  President  Pritchett  calls  an  "  educational 
consciousness,"  in  respect  to  higher  education.  By  "  an 
educational  consciousness  in  a  given  people,"  he  means, 
"  that  a  people  have  come  to  a  stage  in  civilization  in  which 
they  conceive  of  education  as  a  natural  and  necessary  activity 
of  the  state  itself."  The  people  of  the  Northwest,  while 
having  the  educational  consciousness  in  regard  to  elementary 
and  secondary  education,  have  been  strong  in  the  belief  that 
higher  education  was  not  the  proper  function  of  the  state,  but 
of  private  or  more  especially  of  religious  organizations.  This 
sentiment  found  expression  in  The  Daily  Oregonian,  the  leading 
newspaper  of  the  Northwest,  and  has  materially  handicapped 


86  Religious  Progress  on  the  Pacific  Slope 

the  State  schools  in  Oregon  and  Washington,  even  up  to  the 
present  time. 

Coming  down  to  the  Central  Coast,  while  we  find  men  and 
women  of  just  as  strong  character  and  just  as  high  ideals  as 
those  who  founded  the  empire  of  the  Northwest,  it  remains 
true  that  they  were  not  the  predominating  type.  Here  it 
was  the  lure  of  gold  and  the  love  of  adventure  that  led  men 
and  women  to  face  the  hardships  of  the  long  and  perilous 
journey  from  civilization  to  the  fields  of  gold.  It  would  be 
very  unfair  and  unjust  indeed  to  say  that  none  came  save 
through  the  lure  of  gold  and  love  of  fame.  Many  came 
primarily  to  establish  the  traditions  of  Christian  civilization 
here  in  the  land  of  gold  and  sunshine,  but  we  cannot  close  our 
eyes  to  facts  as  they  are;  and  an  unbiased  and  unprejudiced 
study  of  the  situation  from  the  early  days  of  forty-nine  down 
almost  to  the  present  shows  that  the  predominating  type  of 
immigrant  is  different  from  the  predominating  type  in  the 
Northwest.  What  in  the  history  of  the  North  or  the  South 
compares  with  the  wild  rush  to  the  land  of  El  Dorado  in  the 
late  forties  and  early  fifties?  One  historian  describes  this 
rush  as  follows : 

"  On  January  24,  1848,  a  piece  of  native  gold  was  found 
by  Marshall  at  Coloma.  California's  dreamy  pastoral  life 
was  over.  During  1849,  100,000  men  crossed  the  plains  or 
the  Isthmus  of  Panama,  or  rounded  Cape  Horn  to  seek  the 
land  of  gold.  The  adventurers  and  free  outlaws  of  the  whole 
world  flocked  to  the  new  El  Dorado,  and  wild  speculation, 
gambling,  robbery,  murder  and  other  evil  things  were  prac- 
ticed by  experts,  and  hardly  hindered  by  law." 

Let  us  note,  however,  that  the  adventurer  and  free  outlaw, 
no  more  than  the  staunch,  sturdy,  missionary,  determined 
the  trend  of  civilization  in  Northern  California.  Each  of 
these  classes  had  strong  representatives,  but  neither  class 
dominated.  In  fact,  several  elements  combined  to  make  up 
the  dominant  type  in  the  early  days  of  California.     First 


College  Education  on  the  Pacific  Slope  87 

there  were  the  people  known  as  the  Cahfornians  who  were 
here  before  the  immigrants  came  from  the  States.  These 
people  were  for  the  most  part  "  Spanish  and  Mexican  colonists, 
whose  chief  industry  was  raising  cattle  for  the  hides  and  tal- 
low, and  whose  private  hves  were  free,  careless,  and  on  the 
whole,  as  this  world  goes,  moderate,  charming  and  innocent. 
They  were  gay  and  jovial,  full  of  good  fellowship  and  hospital- 
ity. Crime  was  confined  in  general  to  the  lower  sorts  of  people 
in  the  towns.  The  rancheros  hved  much  as  comparatively 
well-to-do  countrymen  of  a  happy  and  unprogressive  type 
always  do  when  in  a  mild  cHmate."  These  were  the  people 
known  as  the  Cahfornians. 

Then  there  were  the  American  traders  who  came  before 
the  discovery  of  gold.  Between  1835  and  1846  various  set- 
tlements of  Americans  were  made  in  Northern  California. 
One  of  the  most  prominent  of  these  was  at  the  junction  of  the 
American  and  Sacramento  Rivers,  known  as  Sutter's  Camp. 
These  settlements  were  composed  partly  of  most  worthy  and 
most  conservative  men,  but  partly  also  of  "  such  persons  as 
escaped  sailors,  wandering  hunters,  adventurous  rascals  of 
various  sorts."  It  was  this  class  of  people  that  composed 
the  second  element. 

The  third  element  was  composed  of  those  who  came  for 
gold.  "  These  newcomers,"  as  described  by  Professor  Royce, 
"  were  for  the  most  part  decently  trained  in  the  duties  of  a 
citizen;  and  as  to  courage  and  energy  they  were  picked  men, 
capable  when  their  time  should  come  for  showing  true  man- 
hood, of  sacrificing  their  hopes  and  enduring  everything. 
But  it  must  be  said  even  of  these  Americans  that  their  early 
quest  was,  at  all  events,  an  unmoral  one;  and  when  they 
neglected  their  duties  as  freemen,  as  citizens,  as  brethren 
among  brethren,  their  quest  became  not  merely  unmoral,  but 
positively  sinful." 

It  was  the  mingling  of  these  three  elements,  the  early 
Cahfornians,  the  American  traders,  and  the  gold  seekers,  that 


88  Religious  Progress  on  the  Pacific  Slope 

determined  the  trend  of  civilization  in  Northern  Cahfornia. 
And  again  in  the  words  of  Royce : 

"  The  race  that  has  since  grown  up  in  Cahfornia,  as  the 
outcome  of  the  early  struggles  between  these  three  classes,  is 
characterized  by  very  marked  qualities  of  strength  and  weak- 
ness. ...  A  general  sense  of  social  irresponsibility  is,  even 
today,  the  average  Californian's  easiest  failing.  He  will 
have  little  or  no  sense  of  social  or  of  material  barriers,  he  will 
perchance  hunt  for  himself  a  new  home  somewhere  else  in  the 
world,  or  in  the  old  home  will  long  for  some  speculative 
business  that  promises  easy  wealth,  or  again  he  will  undertake 
some  great  material  labor  that  attracts  him  by  its  imposing 
difficulty.  .  .  .  He  is  apt  to  lack  a  little,  moreover,  complete 
devotion  to  the  life  in  the  household,  because  as  people  have 
so  often  pointed  out,  the  fireside,  an  essential  institution  of 
our  English  race,  is  of  such  small  significance  in  the  climate 
of  California.  In  short  the  Californian  has  come  too  often 
to  love  mere  fullness  of  life,  and  to  lack  reverence  for  the 
relations  of  life." 

The  climate,  the  geographical  position,  the  discovery  of 
gold,  all  combined  to  establish  a  new  type  of  American  people 
here  in  the  Central  Coast  region.  There  is  strength  and 
progressiveness,  courage  and  moral  elasticity,  good  humor  and 
"  obstinate  cheerfulness  "  without  much  outward  evidence  of 
moral  humility  or  of  religious  reverence.  For  this  reason  Cali- 
fornians  are  (unjustly)  said  to  be  irreligious  and  without  moral 
stamina.  The  fact  is,  they  prefer  to  endure  the  bitterest 
experiences  and  learn  the  hardest  lessons  of  social  government 
by  avoiding  their  past  blunders  than  to  accept  the  moral, 
social,  or  religious  customs  of  others.  For  this  reason  we  do 
not  see  them  striving  anxiously  to  establish  any  of  the  Eastern 
types  of  colleges.  For  a  long  time,  it  seemed  as  if  no  known 
type  could  develop.  True,  the  first  legislature  in  1849  passed 
an  act  looking  forward  to  the  establishment  of  a  State  Uni- 
versity.    But  an  even  score  of  years  passed  before  a  definite 


College  Education  on  the  Pacific  Slope  89 

type  of  state  school  could  be  decided  upon,  and  then,  as  we 
shall  see,  not  by  a  consensus  of  sentiment,  but  by  an  act  of 
generosity  on  the  part  of  a  few  stalwart  citizens.  It  seemed 
for  several  years  that  it  would  be  impossible  to  appropriate 
any  state  moneys  whatever  to  academic  education.  An  act 
was  passed  in  1866  to  establish  an  Agriculture,  Mining  and 
Mechanical  Arts  College,  nothing  being  said  about  a  college 
of  liberal  arts.  It  is  doubtful  if  a  college  of  liberal  arts  would 
have  become  a  part  of  the  State  University  at  all  if  the 
Trustees  of  the  College  of  California,  the  Congregational 
school  in  Oakland,  had  not  offered  to  turn  their  entire 
plant  over  to  the  State  on  one  condition,  namely,  "  That 
this  State  permanently  maintain  in  its  proposed  university  a 
college  of  letters."  The  prevailing  sentiment,  or  better,  the 
confused  sentiment,  in  California  was  thus  overruled  by  a 
magnanimous  gift  of  a  few  high-minded  men  of  the  New  Eng- 
land type. 

Just  as  it  was  difficult,  almost  impossible,  to  crystalize 
public  sentiment  in  favor  of  any  particular  type  of  State 
School,  so  it  was  and  is  difficult  to  arouse  a  sufficient  senti- 
ment in  favor  of  a  denominational  school.  Out  of  a  half 
dozen  or  more  Protestant  Christian  Colleges  started  here  in 
Central  California,  only  one  has  continued  to  the  present 
time.  This  one  is  the  College  of  the  Pacific  at  San  Jos6. 
For  sixty-five  continuous  years  this  school  has,  with  untold 
difficulty,  stemmed  the  tide  of  sentiment  here  so  strongly 
indifferent  to  this  type  of  school  —  so  popular  both  in  the 
North  and  the  South. 

Passing  to  Southern  California,  new  and  intensely  interesting 
conditions  meet  us.  The  mad  rush  for  the  gold  fields  of 
Cahfornia  did  not  invade  the  Southern  part  of  the  State.  All 
the  gold-bearing  fields  were  supposed  to  be  north  of  the 
Tehachapi.  Moreover  the  Southland  was  then  thought  to  be 
a  sandy  waste  without  any  considerable  fertile  land.  Nearly 
a  generation  passed  after  the  discovery  of  gold  in  California 


90  Religious  Progress  on  the  Pacific  Slope 

before  the  advantages  of  the  Southern  part  of  the  State 
became  known.  In  1880  the  City  of  Los  Angeles  had  a  popula- 
tion of  only  about  11,000,  and  most  of  that  spoke  the  Spanish 
language.  It  was  about  this  time  that  immigration  to  this 
part  of  the  State  began  to  increase.  The  great  wave  of  im- 
migration that  was  soon  to  sweep  over  Southern  California 
and  its  significance  for  higher  education  is  vividly  described 
by  C.  B.  Sumner  in  his  "  Story  of  Pomona  College."  Mr. 
Sumner  writes  as  follows:  "  The  year  1886-87  was  the  famous 
year  and  is  often  referred  to  as  the  '  boom  days  '  of  Southern 
Cahfornia.  It  was  a  most  interesting  period  of  its  history. 
People  came  flocking  into  this  region  from  every  direction. 
Hotels  were  full  and  running  over.  Private  houses  were  full, 
crowds  were  on  the  streets  of  the  city  and  on  the  trains,  and 
all  manifested  great  interest  in  local  movements.  In  nothing 
was  this  expansiveness  of  thought  and  action  more  noticeable 
than  in  religious  and  educational  concerns.  Churches  sprang 
up  in  a  day,  often  one,  two  or  three  where  a  settlement  had 
hardly  begun.  In  fact,  sites  given  for  churches  to  the  dif- 
ferent denominations  were  inducements  to  purchase  property. 
One  denomination  after  another  talked  of  an  Academy  or 
College.  Each  sect  was  anxious  to  have  its  own  educational 
institution.  The  idea  of  uniting  with  other  sects  in  higher 
education  in  such  a  field  as  Southern  Cahfornia  met  with 
Httle  toleration.  Often  an  essential  part  of  the  larger  land 
scheme  was  a  plan  for  an  educational  institution.  It  was 
surprising  to  see  how  popular  the  idea  of  higher  education 
had  become.  Nothing  drew  the  attention  and  fed  the  flames 
of  excitement  Hke  the  prospect  of  a  college  or  a  university. 
.  .  .  Every  one  was  full  of  hope  and  expectation.  So  many 
of  the  newcomers  were  the  product  of  Christian  Education 
that  all  hailed  the  prospect  of  a  Christian  College  with  glad- 
ness." 

How  different  this,  from  the  condition  of  things  that  pre- 
vailed in  the  Northwest  when  the  pioneer  missionaries  were 


College  Education  on  the  Pacific  Slope  91 

sowing  the  seeds  of  Christian  civihzation  and  founding  mission 
schools  among  the  hardships  of  frontier  hfe.  How  different 
this,  from  the  situation  in  Central  Cahfornia,  where  even  well 
trained  American  citizens  lost  their  moral  poise  in  the  reck- 
less struggle  for  wealth. 

The  conditions  being  different,  the  type  of  college  was  dif- 
ferent. In  the  first  place  it  resembled  the  college  in  the 
North  in  that  it  was  strictly  denominational.  But  it  differed 
from  the  college  of  the  North  in  that  it  started  at  once  as  a  full- 
fledged  college  of  the  New  England  type,  modified  only  to 
fit  the  optimistic,  boosting  spirit  that  so  uniquely  characterizes 
all  of  Southern  California;  a  spirit  that  is  satisfied  with 
nothing  save  the  very  latest  and  best.  There  was  no  plodding 
along  the  hard  road  of  gradual  development  —  first  a  mission 
school,  then  a  seminary,  later  an  academy,  and  finally  a 
college.  But  Athena-hke,  the  colleges  of  the  Southland  sprang 
forth  full-formed  at  birth. 

Thus  we  have  three  fairly  distinct  kinds  of  schools  repre- 
sented on  the  Coast  —  the  missionary  type  of  the  North,  the 
undenominational  type  of  the  Central  Coast,  and  the  de- 
nominational type  of  the  South.  As  we  turn  to  a  closer  study 
of  individual  institutions  it  will  become  clear  that  the  type  of 
institution  has  been  an  important  factor  in  determining  the 
type  of  civihzation  in  its  particular  region. 

The  first  institution  to  obtain  a  charter  authorizing  it  to 
grant  academic  degrees  was  the  College  of  the  Pacific.  The 
charter  was  given  in  the  name  of  "  The  President  and  Board 
of  Trustees  of  the  Cahfornia  Wesleyan  College,"  by  the  Su- 
preme Court  of  California,  on  the  tenth  day  of  July,  1851. 
The  University  of  Santa  Clara,  the  Cathohc  school  in  the  same 
locality,  was  chartered  a  few  months  later.  The  name  Cali- 
fornia Wesleyan  College  was  changed  to  University  of  Pacific 
in  1852.  Though  doing  only  college  work,  the  name  Univer- 
sity was  retained  until  the  24th  day  of  June,  1911,  when  by 
court  proceedings  the  present  name,   "  The  College  of  the 


92  Religious  Progress  on  the  Pacific  Slope 

Pacific,"  was  adopted.  In  1896  Napa  College  united  with  The 
College  of  the  Pacific  and  its  graduates  were  enrolled  as  alumni 
of  the  latter  institution.  The  College  has  more  regular  stu- 
dents today  than  it  ever  had  before.  The  present  campaign 
for  $300,000  increase  in  the  productive  endowment  is  proceed- 
ing encouragingly.^  But  while  a  more  favorable  interest  is 
being  manifested  by  ever-increasing  numbers,  there  is  still 
a  strong  feeling,  that  this  type  of  college  is  not  for  this  region. 
Various  denominational  schools  have  tried  the  atmosphere  of 
Central  California  and  found  it  too  unhealthy  in  which  to  live. 
There  seems  to  be  a  widespread  view  that  a  religious  environ- 
ment is  not  suited  to  a  hberal  education.  Undoubtedly 
this  is  wrong.  High  scholarship  and  genuine  Christian  hving 
are  not  antagonistic,  but  go  hand  in  hand  as  vital  factors  in  a 
progressive  civilization. 

Turning  our  attention  to  the  North  Pacific  Coast  we  find 
that  the  oldest  institution  of  collegiate  rank  is  Willamette 
University.  The  history  of  this  school  is  filled  with  thrilling 
incidents  of  courage,  devotion,  and  genuine  Christian  conse- 
cration. 

Reference  has  already  been  made  to  the  coming  of  Jason 
Lee  to  Oregon  in  1834.  In  the  same  year  he  formed  a  mission 
school  in  a  log  cabin  ten  miles  below  the  present  site  of  Salem. 
This  Indian  mission  school  was  removed  in  1842  to  what  is 
now  the  campus  of  Willamette  University  in  the  city  of  Salem. 
During  this  same  year  the  Mission  School  was  reorganized, 
"  adopted  a  constitution  and  by-laws,  elected  a  Board  of 
Trustees,  subscribed  funds,  decided  to  call  the  institution  The 
Oregon  Institute,  and  resolved  that  it  should  grow  into  a  col- 
lege." In  1853  the  Institute  had  grown  to  be  a  college  and  was 
incorporated  under  the  name  of  Willamette  University.  The 
location  is  ideal.  Salem  is  the  capital  city  of  Oregon  and  the 
campus  is  in  the  heart  of  the  city  directly  facing  the  Capitol 
Buildings.     The  state  libraries  are  open  freely  to  the  students 

1  This  campaign  was  successfully  completed  in  December,   1916. — Editors. 


College  Education  on  the  Pacific  Slope  93 

of  the  University,  and  the  faculty  and  state  officials  work 
together  on  all  the  problems  that  concern  the  welfare  of  the 
State.  Graduates  of  the  University  have  filled  practically  all  of 
the  municipal  and  state  offices  at  one  time  or  another.  Twice 
a  student  of  Willamette  has  won  a  Rhodes  scholarship.  Dur- 
ing the  prohibition  campaign  the  University  was  one  of  the 
strongest  factors  in  winning  the  fight  for  a  dry  state.  Willa- 
mette does  not  stand  alone  in  this  kind  of  work  in  Oregon. 
There  is  Albany  College  at  Albany  under  the  auspices  of  the 
Presbyterian  Church;  Pacific  University  at  Forest  Grove, 
founded  jointly  by  the  Presbyterian  and  Congregational 
Churches;  McMinville  College  at  McMinnville,  under  the 
auspices  of  the  Baptist  Church;  and  Pacific  College  at  New- 
berg,  under  the  auspices  of  the  Friends  Church. 

Is  it  any  wonder  that  Oregon  has  banished  hquor,  with  these 
institutions  occupying  nearly,  if  not  all,  of  the  strategic  centers 
of  population,  and  exerting  the  strongest  kind  of  Christian 
influence? 

Turning  from  Oregon  to  Washington,  we  will  speak  first  of 
Whitman  College.  In  1859  the  Rev.  Gushing  Eells  founded 
Whitman  College  to  commemorate  the  name  of  his  friend  and 
fellow-missionary,  Marcus  Whitman,  M.D.  Dr.  Whitman, 
as  we  have  seen,  came  with  his  wife  and  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Spalding 
to  the  Oregon  Territory  as  a  missionary  to  the  Indians.  He 
settled  five  miles  from  the  present  site  of  Walla  Walla  and 
began  the  work  of  medical  missions,  laying  at  the  same  time 
the  foundations  of  a  Christian  civiUzation.  By  his  famous 
ride  across  the  continent  in  the  winter  of  1842-43,  he  was  in- 
strumental in  saving  Oregon  to  the  United  States.  On  his 
return  he  led  back  in  1843  the  first  great  wagon  train  of  emi- 
grants through  the  Rocky  Mountains  to  the  Pacific  Coast. 
Four  years  later  the  Indians  to  whom  he  had  devoted  his  life 
murdered  him  and  his  wife  with  twelve  other  missionaries. 

Because  of  the  uprising  of  the  Indians  at  this  time,  Mr. 
Eells  took  refuge  in  the  Willamette  Valley.     There,  in  connec- 


94  Religious  Progress  on  the  Pacific  Slope 

tion  with  others,  he  was  instrumental  in  getting  the  Presby- 
terians and  Congregationahsts  to  unite  in  obtaining  a  charter 
from  the  territorial  Legislature,  "  for  a  seminary  of  learning 
for  the  instruction  of  both  sexes  in  science  and  literature,  to 
be  called  '  Tualatin  Academy.'  "  Mr.  Eells  was  the  first 
principal.  In  1858  the  "  upper  country  "  was  declared  by 
the  United  States  troops  to  be  once  more  open  for  settlers, 
and  Mr.  Eells  at  once  returned.  "  Visiting  the  ruined  mission 
settlement  of  the  Whitmans,  he  found  a  lonely  grave  into 
which  the  bodies  of  all  the  victims  of  the  massacre  had  been 
gathered.  As  he  stood  by  the  grave  and  meditated  upon  the 
heroic  character  of  Dr.  Whitman,  he  concluded  then  and  there 
to  estabhsh  as  "  a  worthy  memorial  to  his  friend,  a  school 
for  both  sexes  which  should  bear  the  name  of  Whitman  and 
continue  his  work  for  Christian  civiHzation." 

The  territorial  Legislature  of  Washington  granted  a  charter 
to  Whitman  Seminary  on  December  twentieth,  1859,  but  the 
school  did  not  open  its  doors  until  October  thirteenth,  1866. 
In  1882  Alexander  Jay  Anderson,  at  that  time  president  of 
the  University  of  Washington  at  Seattle,  was  elected  presi- 
dent of  Whitman,  and  in  the  following  year  the  charter  was 
changed  so  that  the  Seminary  became  Whitman  College. 
Whitman  is  now  one  of  the  most  efficient  colleges  on  the  Coast. 
It  is  accompanied  in  its  effective  work  by  Gonzaga  University, 
under  the  auspices  of  the  Cathohc  Church  in  Spokane,  founded 
in  1887;  Whitworth  College,  founded  by  the  Presbyterian 
Church  at  Whitworth  in  1890,  and  College  of  Puget  Sound, 
founded  by  the  Methodist  Church  in  1903. 

Turning  to  the  South  Coast,  we  will  speak  first  of  Pomona 
College.  Before  the  "  boom  days  "  of  1886-87,  to  which  we 
have  already  referred,  the  Southern  California  District  Asso- 
ciation of  Congregational  Churches  considered  the  question 
of  founding  a  college  in  Southern  Cahfornia  of  the  "  New 
England  Type."  In  1883,  the  Association  elected  a  "  strong 
representative     Education     Committee    from     the    various 


College  Education  on  the  Pacific  Slope  95 

Congregational  Churches  and  authorized  it  to  estabhsh  a 
Christian  College  or  Academy."     After  two  years'  work  the 
committee  decided  to  recommend  the  estabhshment,  not  of  an 
Academy  but  of  a  College.     The  "  boom  days  "  were  on  and 
several   communities  were  vying   with   each  other  in  their 
anxiety  to  secure  the  proposed  educational  institution.     In 
1887  the  committee  selected  the  present  site,  now  known  as 
Claremont,  and  located  a  few  miles  north  of  Pomona,  the  city 
from  which  the   College  takes  its  name.     The   doors  were 
opened   in   the   fall   of    1888.     Secondary   schools   were   not 
numerous  at  this  time  and  the  first  two  or  three  years  were 
spent  largely  in  preparatory  work,  the  first  class  graduating 
in  1894.     The  authorities  in  announcing  the  opening  of   the 
college  stated  its  purpose  in  the  following  words:  "  The  design 
of  the  college  is  to  secure  to  both  sexes,  under  the  most  favora- 
ble circumstances,  as  good  instruction  as  can  be  obtained  any- 
where in  any  part  of  the  country,  in  a  distinctively  Christian 
but  not  a  sectarian  spirit,  and  to  afford  special  advantage  to 
students  of  small  means."     Following  the  examples  of  Am- 
herst, Dartmouth,  Colgate,  WilHams  and  other  New  England 
colleges,  the  committee  selected  a  rural  site.     In  the  words  of 
one  of  the  founders,  "  The  friends  of  Pomona  have  felt  that 
the  ideal  college  is  the  rural  college.     Here  are  '  the  most 
favorable  circumstances.'  .  .  .  Whether   we    consider    study 
or  recreation,  utiKty  or  good  healthy  enjoyment,  we  find  that 
the  comparison  of  the  urban  and  rural  college  is  greatly  in 
favor  of  the  latter."     Pomona  College  stands  for  high  grade 
scholarship,  moral  and  rehgious  training,  co-education,  op- 
portunities for  students  with  hmited  means,  and  rural  sur- 
roundings.    That  Pomona  has  maintained  the  highest  scholas- 
tic standards  is  testified  to  by  the  fact  that  its  diploma  is 
recognized    by    European    Universities,    that    the    National 
Council  of  the  Phi  Beta  Kappa  in  1915  voted  to  Pomona 
College  the  first  charter  ever  granted  to  any  institution  limit- 
ing itself  to  college  work  west  of  the  Rocky  Mountains.     It  is 


96  Religious  Progress  on  the  Pacific  Slope 

a  college  with  a  national  reputation,  boldly  flying  the  flag  of 
Christian  Education,  saying  to  prospective  students,  "  Do 
not  come  to  Pomona  unless  you  are  prepared  to  co-operate 
voluntarily  in  the  highest  type  of  college  spirit  and  ideals." 
The  Christian  Ideal  has  been  fundamental.  "  Without 
that,"  says  one  from  the  inside,  "  there  is  no  good  reason  for 
the  existence  of  Pomona.  Not  only  have  devotional  services 
been  required  and  organizations  helpful  to  the  Christian  life 
been  sustained,  but  great  pains  have  been  taken,  without 
encroaching  too  much  upon  the  students'  time,  to  introduce 
the  most  inspiring  and  the  most  effective  influence  the  church 
and  the  world  can  give." 

Pomona  does  not  stand  alone  in  Southern  California  in 
Protestant  Christian  Education.  Occidental  College,  founded 
the  same  year,  has  this  clause  in  its  charter,  adopted  April  7, 
1910: 

"  The  management  of  the  College  shall  be  non-sectarian, 
and  shall  be  vested  in  a  self-perpetuating  board  of  twenty 
evangelical  Christian  church  members.  The  teaching  and 
management  of  the  College  shall  be  in  accord  with  that  of  the 
evangelical  Christian  churches  concerning  the  Fatherhood  and 
Sovereignty  of  God,  the  Deity  and  Atonement  of  Jesus  Christ, 
the  Person  and  Work  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  and  the  Bible  as  an 
authoritative  revelation  from  God,  and  other  fundamental 
doctrines  of  Christianity." 

Whittier  College,  also,  under  the  auspices  of  the  Friends 
Church,  located  near  Los  Angeles,  is  doing  a  splendid  work 
with  ever-increasing  numbers  of  vigorous,  consecrated  young 
people.  Nazerene  University  has  been  recently  estabhshed 
in  North  Pasadena.  Concerning  it  the  secretary  of  the  Trus- 
tees writes  me  as  follows:  "  A  comparatively  young  institu- 
tion, but  an  institution  that  God  has  signally  blessed.  This 
University  has  its  future  before  it;  it  is  the  child  of  importu- 
nate prayer,  and  is  founded  upon  the  eternal  Word  of  Truth. 
The  faculty  are  persons  of  sound  sense  and  fervent  spirituahty, 


College  Education  on  the  Pacific  Slope  97 

the  student  body  clean,  and  the  aim  of  the  University  high 
in  morals  and  scholastic  attainment.  .  .  .  Here  is  the  place 
for  the  moulding  of  character,  the  arousing  of  everything 
that  is  good  in  the  individual,  and  the  real  making  of  success- 
ful men  and  women." 

Finally  there  is  the  University  of  Redlands,  which  opened 
its  doors  on  September  29th,  1909,  and  enrolled  last  year  196 
students.  It  is  under  the  auspices  of  the  Baptist  churches  of 
Southern  California,  and  was  founded  because  the  Baptist 
people  believed  what  the  first  President  of  this  University 
has  so  ardently  proclaimed:  "  He  who  admits  the  need  of 
Baptist  churches  admits  the  need  of  Baptist  colleges.  What 
would  be  the  strength  of  the  denomination  in  comparison 
with  other  denominations  in  the  next  fifty  years  here  on  the 
Pacific  Coast,  where  history  is  being  made,  if  we  have  not  a 
college  of  our  own?  "  The  progress  of  the  University,  during 
the  seven  years  since  its  doors  first  opened,  is  thoroughly 
justifying  its  estabhshment. 

To  all  of  these  Christian  colleges  which  are  aspiring  to  be 
worthy  representatives  of  the  New  England  type  of  Christian 
institutions,  must  be  added  the  University  of  Southern  Cali- 
fornia, the  largest  denominational  institution  on  the  Coast, 
and  surpassed  in  number  of  students  only  by  the  University 
of  Cahfornia,  the  University  of  Washington  and  the  State 
Agricultural  College  of  Oregon.  It  is  endeavoring  to  carry 
the  spirit  of  a  Christian  institution  on  into  the  field  of  uni- 
versity work  proper. 

Among  the  institutions  of  the  Coast  belonging  to  a  general 
type  mention  must  be  made  of  the  State  schools.  The  Uni- 
versity of  California  and  Stanford  University  are,  as  President 
Pritchett  called  them,  "  two  stars  of  the  first  magnitude  in  the 
educational  firmament  of  the  commonwealth  of  Cahfornia." 
It  is  generally  admitted  that  President  Pritchett  was  also 
right  when,  in  substance,  he  said  that  the  State  Universities 
must  set  the  standards  of  democracy.     For  my  part  I  have 


98  Religious  Progress  on  the  Pacific  Slope 

always  been  averse  to  speaking  of  church  schools  as  Christian 
Institutions,  because  I  believe  our  great  Universities  to  be 
Christian,  at  least  in  this  sense,  that  they  are  built  upon  the 
"  system  of  morals  founded  upon  the  virtues  which  Christ 
himself  taught." 

The  real  difference  between  the  state  schools  and  the  de- 
nominational schools  is,  that  the  state  school  emphasizes 
intellectual  freedom  and  honesty,  leaving  the  question  of 
religion  to  the  individual  student;  while  the  church  school 
places  alongside  of  intellectual  freedom  and  honesty,  religious 
truth  and  Christian  living,  believing  "  that  in  the  significant 
period  of  youth,  when  the  permanent  loyalties  are  forming 
in  the  hearts  of  men  and  women,  equal  emphasis  should  be 
placed  upon  thorough  scholarship  and  genuine  religious  liv- 
ing." Schools  of  the  latter  type  insist,  as  the  state  schools  do 
not,  that  youth  should  be  guided  in  their  religious  aspirations 
as  well  as  in  their  intellectual  aspirations.  This  is  the  real 
difference  between  the  state  schools  and  schools  "religious  in 
character."  To  call  one  Christian  is  to  imply  that  the  other 
is  non-Christian  —  which  is  unfair. 

The  state  schools,  no  doubt,  often  err  in  keeping  silent  on 
so  great  a  question  as  religious  truth  and  spiritual  reality,  and 
when  this  is  so  something  should  be  done  to  correct  or  offset 
the  natural  consequences  of  the  error.  This  can  best  be 
done,  I  believe,  by  schools  free  from  sectarianism  and  nar- 
row conceptions  of  Christianity,  but  with  a  genuine  and  whole- 
some religious  life  permeating  the  class  room,  the  social  and 
literary  circles,  and  every  phase  of  college  life.  On  the  other 
hand,  great  mistakes  have  been  made  in  the  past  and  will 
doubtless  be  made  in  the  future  by  schools  "  religious  in 
character  "  in  confounding  true  Christian  living  with  certain 
particular  creeds  and  special  forms  of  conduct.  There  ap- 
pear to  be  two  remedies  for  this :  First,  the  schools  that  are 
religious  in  character  may  avoid  sectarian  tendencies  and  em- 
phasize "rather  the  broader,  deeper,  richer  phases  of  religious 


College  Education  on  the  Pacific  Slope  99 

truth  which,  without  offense,  appeal  ahke  to  all  Christians," 
leaving  points  of  honest  difference  of  opinion  to  individual 
churches  and  organizations;  second,  the  state  schools,  with 
their  catholic  appeal  to  members  of  all  religious  bodies  may 
not  only  keep  free  from  sectarianism  themselves,  but  lead  the 
other  type  of  schools  to  distinguish  non-essentials  from  es- 
sentials in  religious  matters. 

The  Coast  would  not  be  occupying  the  foremost  place  that 
it  does  in  progressive  democracy  were  it  not  for  the  splendid 
state  schools  that  shine  in  its  educational  firmament.  The 
separation  of  the  agricultural  schools  from  the  Universities  in 
Oregon  and  Washington  has  lessened  the  influence  of  the 
state  schools  in  these  states.  The  situation  in  both  states  is 
still  quite  acute.  As  recently  as  the  1915  session  of  the  Legis- 
lature in  Washington,  conflict  between  partisans  of  the  Uni- 
versity and  the  State  College  seemed  to  be  imminent.  Bills 
were  introduced  into  the  Legislature  which  if  passed  would 
have  no  doubt  been  injurious  to  both  institutions.  The 
situation  was  reheved,  at  least  for  the  time  being,  by  the 
parties  getting  together  and  appealing  to  the  United  States 
Commissioner  of  Education  to  study  the  situation  and  suggest 
a  solution.  On  the  basis  of  his  report  the  Legislature  ap- 
pointed a  Commission  to  make  a  thorough  survey  of  the  situa- 
tion and  report  to  the  Governor,  April  30,  1916.  In  a  lesser 
degree  the  same  condition  of  things  exists  in  Oregon  between 
the  University  of  Oregon  at  Eugene  and  the  Oregon  State 
Agricultural  College  at  Corvallis.  The  state  schools  are, 
however,  in  spite  of  these  drawbacks,  leading  in  the  spirit  of 
progressive  democracy,  and  the  Coast  from  the  North  to  the 
South  may  justly  be  proud  of  its  state  institutions  of  higher 
learning. 

But  the  Pacific  Coast  has  something  more  still  to  be  proud 
of  in  the  way  of  higher  education.  It  consists  in  the  splendid 
special  schools  that  occupy  strategic  positions  in  all  three 
regions.     Before  taking  up  these,  I  wish  to  refer  to  the  ex- 


100        Religious  Progress  on  the  Pacific  Slope 

cellent  group  of  Catholic  institutions,  three  in  number,  all  of 
which  are  located  in  this  region  —  St.  Mary's  in  Oakland, 
St.  Ignatius  in  San  Francisco  and  the  University  of  Santa 
Clara,  already  referred  to,  in  Santa  Clara.  These  are  the 
only  Catholic  schools  reporting  to  the  Bureau  of  Education 
as  requiring  at  least  fourteen  units  of  secondary  work  for 
entrance  to  college  courses.  They  together  had  in  1915  an 
enrollment  of  collegiate,  graduate  and  professional  students 
of  two  hundred  and  seventy-nine,  according  to  the  United 
States  Bureau  of  Education,  Bulletin  No.  27.  There  are 
doubtless  a  number  of  other  Cathohc  institutions  doing 
collegiate  work,  but  they  either  fail  to  report  to  the  Bureau  of 
Education  or  else  do  not  conform  to  the  minimum  standard  for 
college  rank. 

No  sketch  of  the  history  of  higher  education  on  the  Pacific 
Coast  would  be  complete  that  omitted  the  special  institutions, 
referred  to  —  the  principal  ones  being  Stanford  University 
and  Mills  College,  in  the  Central  region ;  Reed  College,  in  the 
North  Pacific  Coast,  and  Throop  College  of  Technology,  in 
the  South. 

Mills  College  is  devoted  exclusively  to  women;  it  is  the 
only  college  of  strict  collegiate  rank  of  the  kind  on  the  Coast. 
It  is  an  outgrowth  of  a  Young  Ladies'  Seminary,  opened  as  a 
boarding  and  day  school  in  Benicia,  California,  in  1852.  In 
1865,  Rev.  and  Mrs.  Cyrus  T.  Mills  bought  the  above  Semi- 
nary and  continued  it  in  Benicia  until  1871,  when  it  had  out- 
grown its  accommodations.  In  looking  about  for  the  most 
suitable  location  for  such  a  school,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Mills  found 
the  "  present  beautiful  site  at  the  base  of  the  Alameda  Hills, 
near  the  city  of  Oakland."  It  was  their  fervent  wish  to 
establish  "  a  school  that  should,  hke  Mount  Holyoke  College 
and  kindred  institutions  in  the  East,  be  conducted  on  Chris- 
tian principles  and  characterized  by  earnest  Christian  in- 
fluences." In  1877,  it  was  incorporated  and  deeded  as  a 
gift  to  a  Board  of  Trustees.     In  1885,  a  College  charter  was 


College  Education  on  the  Pacific  Slope         101 

granted  to  the  institution  and  the  name  changed  to  "  Mills 
College  and  Seminary."  In  1911  the  seminary  department 
was  discontinued  and  the  institution  is  now  strictly  a  College. 
The  high  reputation,  both  as  scholar  and  educator,  of  the  newly 
elected  President,  Dr.  Aurelia  Henry  Rhinehart,  guarantees 
that  the  women  of  the  Pacific  Coast  will  continue  to  have  an 
equal  opportunity  with  the  women  in  the  East  to  enjoy  a 
college  exclusively  for  them  and  of  as  high  scholastic  standing 
as  any  college  in  the  land. 

As  Mills  College  is  the  only  institution  of  collegiate  rank 
exclusively  for  women,  so  Throop  College  of  Technology  is 
the  only  technological  school  of  collegiate  rank  on  the  Coast. 
I  can,  I  think,  give  the  best  impression  of  this  magnificent  and 
highly  important  institution  by  quoting  a  statement  sent  me 
by  the  President  in  response  to  a  letter  of  inquiry.  It  is  as 
follows : 

"  Throop  College  sets  applied  sciences  at  the  center  of  its 
curriculum  and  surrounds  these  with  a  border  of  essential 
humanities.  ...  It  believes  that  a  mighty  empire,  such  as 
this  of  the  Southwest,  demands  the  efficiency  of  trained 
builders.  The  gush  of  water  and  the  genius  of  electricity 
and  the  power  of  petroleum  may  all  be  unlocked  by  the  touch 
of  the  engineer's  finger.  Nothing  is  more  certain  than  the 
coming  of  stupendous  opportunities  to  our  doors  within  the 
next  ten  or  twenty  years.  A  host  of  ardent  and  disciplined 
youth,  trained  in  the  use  of  the  tools  of  science  and  illumined 
by  broad  and  high  vision,  will  convert  opportunity  into 
achievement,  serving  their  generation  just  as  nobly  and  quite 
as  effectively  as  members  of  the  older  professions."  It  may 
be  added  that  the  school  is  modeled  after  the  Massachusetts 
Institute  of  Technology  and  that  it  is  fast  gaining  as  high  a 
reputation  on  the  Pacific  as  the  former  holds  on  the  Atlantic 
Coast. 

Reed  College  is  a  private  institution,  founded  in  1904  by 
the  will  of  Mrs.  Simeon  G.  Reed,  in  accordance  with  the  wishes 


102        Religious  Progress  on  the  Pacific  Slope 

of  her  husband,  who  died  in  1895.  It  was  the  wish  of  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Reed  to  dispose  of  their  fortune  in  a  way  that  would 
bring  the  greatest  benefit  to  Portland  and  to  the  State  of 
Oregon.  Mrs.  Reed  decided  to  found  a  college,  but  left  the 
question  of  the  character  of  the  school  to  the  General  Educa- 
tion Board.  Dr.  Wallace  Buttrick,  the  secretary  of  the  Board, 
studied  the  educational  needs  of  Oregon  and  the  Northwest 
very  carefully,  and  finally  reported  to  the  Board  that  "  the 
greatest  educational  need  of  Portland  is  a  college  of  liberal 
arts  and  sciences,  and  that  there  is  no  better  unoccupied  spot 
in  the  United  States  for  founding  such  a  college."  On  mo- 
tion of  ex-President  Eliot  of  Harvard  University  this  report 
was  adopted. 

President  Foster  asserts  that  Reed  College  purposes  to  take 
advantage  of  its  freedom  from  traditions.  "It  is  unde- 
nominational, but  holds  religion  to  be  a  normal  and  whole- 
some part  of  human  life,  hence  the  college  maintains  regular 
religious  services,  daily  chapel  and  Sunday  Vesper  services  — 
in  which  all  may  participate  without  compulsion,  on  a  broad 
human  basis.  .  .  .  Admission  is  based  not  merely  on  the 
completion  of  a  secondary  school  course  of  four  years,  or  its 
equivalent,  but  on  physical  fitness,  on  scholarship  above  the 
average,  on  evidence  of  good  character,  earnestness  of  purpose, 
intellectual  enthusiasm  and  qualities  of  leadership."  Reed 
College  is  this  fall  starting  on  its  sixth  year,  and  while  it  has 
already  attracted  world-wide  attention,  it  is  too  young  to 
justify  any  definite  statement  as  to  the  significance  of  the 
radical  change  which  it  purposes  to  make  in  college  work. 

Stanford  University  is  the  most  noted  institution  of  a 
special  type  on  the  Coast.  It,  too,  started  free  of  tradition, 
but  made  no  attempt  to  deviate  so  far  from  the  usual  methods 
as  has  Reed  College.  The  authorities  have  stood  definitely 
for  a  high  moral  tone  among  the  students  and  have  exercised 
due  authority  when  it  seemed  called  for.  It  aims  to  promul- 
gate a  spirit  of  democracy  among  the  students.     Stanford 


College  Education  on  the  Pacific  Slope         103 

gained  recognition  in  Europe  and  the  East  even  before  the 
University  of  Cahfornia.  It  won  its  reputation  by  insisting 
on  high  standards  of  scholarship  and  by  participating  in  local, 
state,  and  even  federal  affairs.  It  is  coming  more  and  more  to 
hold  that  a  University  should  have  experts  available  to  assist 
in  all  problems  of  civilization.  The  following  quotation  is 
taken  from  President  Branner's  report  for  the  year  1915: 

"  We  have,  or  should  have,  in  our  university  many  of  the 
most  competent  experts  to  be  found  in  the  country.  The 
services  of  these  experts  are  needed  in  various  branches  of 
business,  manufacturing,  and  engineering,  and  there  is  every 
reason  why  such  services  should  be  available  to  the  public 
without  interfering  with  the  duties  of  the  professors  as  in- 
structors." Both  the  state  and  the  church  schools  have  found 
Stanford  a  source  of  ever  increasing  inspiration  and  encourage- 
ment. 

With  these  facts  in  mind,  let  us  make  a  brief  comparison  of 
higher  education  on  the  Coast  with  that  of  the  United  States 
as  a  whole.  One  of  the  most  striking  facts  is  the  comparatively 
small  number  of  institutions  in  this  section  in  proportion  to 
the  area.  The  General  Education  Board  affirms  that  as  a  rule 
the  majority  of  students  come  from  a  circle  of  fifty  miles 
radius  about  an  institution.  Applying  this  to  the  Coast 
situation  we  can  see  at  once  that  a  very  large  per  cent,  of  the 
young  people  do  not  have  an  average  opportunity  for  higher 
education.  The  area  of  the  Coast  states  is  equal  to  the 
combined  area  of  the  states  of  Ohio,  Indiana,  Ilhnois,  Michi- 
gan, Missouri,  Iowa  and  Kansas.  Now,  while  these  states 
have  one  hundred  and  five  institutions  of  higher  learning,  the 
Coast  states  have  only  twenty-seven  —  a  little  over  25  per 
cent.,  proportionately. 

While  the  Coast  compares  unfavorably  with  the  country 
as  a  whole,  in  regard  to  the  number  of  schools,  it  compares 
more  favorably  in  other  respects,  as  the  following  facts  show : 


104         Religious  Progress  on  the  Pacific  Slope 

The  population  of  the  Coast  is  only  4^  per  cent,  of  that  of 
the  United  States,  and  yet  the  Coast  has  more  than  7^  per 
cent,  of  the  students,  more  than  6f  per  cent,  of  the  faculty, 
7  per  cent,  of  the  scientific  apparatus  and  12  per  cent,  of  the 
productive  funds.  In  all  these  respects  the  Coast  stands  well. 
There  is  another  respect  in  which  the  Coast  is  ahead  of  the 
country  as  a  whole,  at  least  from  the  point  of  view  of  free 
education.  It  is  this:  The  average  tuition  per  student  on  the 
Coast  is  $55.30,  while  the  average  in  the  United  States  in 
$104.95. 

From  the  above  comparisons  two  significant  facts  appear. 
One  is  that  from  the  point  of  view  of  internal  efficiency  — 
i.e.,  equipment,  endowment,  faculty  and  number  of  students 
—  the  Coast  is  above  the  average.  The  other  is  that  from  the 
point  of  view  of  external  efficiency  —  i.e.,  direct  contact  with 
the  life  of  the  community  —  the  Coast  is  below  the  average. 
This  brings  us  to  our  concluding  remarks.  In  the  past,  it 
was  thought  that  a  college  had  served  its  purpose  when  it  had 
attained  internal  efficiency.  In  other  words,  the  college  was 
supposed  to  exist  for  the  students  who  were  fortunate  enough 
to  find  themselves  within  her  walls.  These  students  were  to 
become  leaders,  to  be  sure,  when  they  returned  home.  But 
the  work  of  the  college  was  devoted  almost  exclusively  to  the 
education  of  these  youth.  This,  of  course,  is  in  a  true  sense 
the  primary  function  of  an  institution  of  higher  learning. 
But  because  it  is  the  primary  function  it  does  not  necessarily 
mean  that  it  is  the  only  function.  At  any  rate  a  new  view  is 
fast  coming  into  prominence.  A  quotation  from  a  statement 
sent  me  by  President  Penrose  of  Whitman  College  will 
make  this  view  clear:  "  The  old  way  of  thinking  about  a 
college  was  of  an  educational  institution  set  down  in  the  midst 
of  an  ahen  and  possibly  hostile  environment.  The  college 
has  no  sense  of  obligation  to  the  community.  .  .  .  The  mem- 
bers of  the  faculty  held  themselves  superior  to  the  people  of 
the  town,  and  the  students  frequently  rendered  themselves 


College  Education  on  the  Pacific  Slope         105 

obnoxious  to  the  townspeople  by  acts  of  lawlessness  and  the 
disregard  of  other  people's  rights."  We  see  in  the  old  phrase 
"  the  town  and  the  gown  "  that  this  view  has  a  long  tradition 
behind  it.  The  tradition  may  be  disowned  by  most  institu- 
tions today,  but  the  attitude  still  lingers  with  us. 

"  The  new  way  of  thinking  about  a  college,"  President 
Penrose  goes  on  to  say,  "  changes  all  this.  It  conceives  the 
college  to  have  a  responsibility  to  the  community  in  which  it 
is  placed,  ...  it  is  highly  important  that  a  college  should 
be  efficient  internally,  but  it  is  no  less  important  that  a  college 
should  be  efficient  in  its  relations  to  the  community  and  the 
commonwealth  in  which  it  is  placed." 

We  agree  heartily  with  President  Penrose.  The  most 
significant  development  in  higher  education,  in  recent  years, 
has  been  along  these  fines.  The  extension  courses  of  the 
state  universities,  the  farmers'  institutes,  the  correspondence 
courses  that  reach  many  times  more  people  than  the  regular 
courses,  the  service  of  faculty  experts  in  various  lines  of  busi- 
ness —  all  these  features  are  making  for  the  external  efficiency 
of  higher  education.  Through  these  and  numerous  other 
means  the  institution  of  higher  learning  is  becoming  an  integral 
part  of  the  community  in  which  it  is  located. 

It  may  be  said  that  this  is  legitimate  work  for  a  university 
but  not  for  a  college,  but  that  would  be  to  miss  the  real  point 
of  the  new  view.  To  be  efficient  externally  is  not  merely  to 
do  big  things  in  an  expensive  way,  but  to  carry  the  intellectual 
and  spiritual  life  of  the  college  into  the  actual  life  of  the  com- 
munity. Members  of  the  faculty  should  be  citizens  among 
citizens,  serving  on  the  board  of  supervisors,  the  police  com- 
mission, the  library  board,  the  board  of  education,  the  board 
of  health,  the  chamber  of  commerce,  the  grand  jury,  and  all 
other  community  bodies.  Students  as  well  as  faculty  mem- 
bers should  carry  on  special  investigations  and  make  reports. 

As  an  illustration  of  this  kind  of  work,  I  will  quote  from  a 
statement   sent   me   by   President   Foster  of   Reed   College. 


106        Religious  Progress  on  the  Pacific  Slope 

"  Last  winter,"  says  President  Foster,  "  the  problems  of  the 
unemployed  were  studied.  The  students  and  faculty  went 
among  the  unemployed,  slept  with  them,  ate  with  them,  talked 
with  them,  lived  with  them,  and  got  life  histories  of  431  of 
these  men.  They  got  the  kind  of  information  that  is  neces- 
sary for  intelligent  action." 

We  began  this  paper  by  pointing  out  that  public  sentiment 
determines  the  type  of  college  or  university.  We  believe  that 
the  facts  presented  show  this  unmistakably.  On  the  other 
hand,  the  facts  show  just  as  unmistakably  that  the  colleges 
and  universities,  in  turn,  direct  the  trend  of  public  sentiment. 
The  influence  is  mutual  and  reciprocal. 

We  often  hear  it  said  that  material  progress  is  advancing 
much  faster  than  moral  and  spiritual  progress.  Many  things 
indicate  that  this  is  true.  The  remedy  is  not  to  be  sought 
in  halting  material  progress,  but  rather  in  moralizing  and 
spiritualizing  it.  This  cannot  be  done  merely  by  building  up 
alongside  of  the  splendid  material  progress  an  overtowering 
moral  and  spiritual  life.  The  two  must  not  only  stand  side  by 
side,  they  must  interpenetrate,  if  the  material  is  to  become 
spiritualized.  Along  with  the  Church  the  institutions  of 
higher  learning  are  the  forces  which  can  do  this.  But  they 
cannot  do  it  after  the  old  way.  If  it  is  to  be  done,  it  must  be 
by  becoming  an  integral  part  of  the  community  life  by  main- 
taining an  "  atmosphere  in  which  large  business  problems  will 
be  regarded  instinctively  in  a  large  and  public-spirited  way." 

We  are  fond  of  saying  that  the  days  of  monastic  separation 
from  the  world  have  long  since  passed  by,  but  has  not  the 
spirit  of  those  days  lingered  with  us  even  unto  the  present  time, 
and  we  know  it  not?  There  are  no  stone  walls  about  our 
buildings,  not  even  any  fences;  but  if  the  spirit  of  educational 
institutions  has  led  the  community  to  be  hostile  to  them,  is  it 
not  because  they  have,  to  a  degree  at  least,  allowed  the 
monastic  atmosphere  to  surround  them  and  to  seclude  them 
from  the  eyes  of  the  business  world? 


College  Education  on  the  Pacific  Slope  107 

The  hope  of  Democracy  and  Christian  civilization  lies  in 
the  awakening  of  educational  and  religious  institutions  to 
the  opportunity  of  becoming  an  integral  part  of  the  life  of  the 
world,  and  thereby  surrounding  life  with  an  atmosphere  in 
which  world  problems  will  be  instinctively  regarded  not  in  a 
soulless  economic  and  national  way,  but  in  a  moral  and  world- 
federated  way. 

In  conclusion,  I  am  proud  to  bear  witness  to  the  fact  that 
the  faculty  of  the  Pacific  Theological  Seminary  came  to  a 
clear  consciousness,  several  years  ago,  of  the  importance 
of  making  this  institution  an  integral  factor  in  the  life  of  the 
community,  the  Coast,  the  great  Oriental  World  at  our 
gates.  The  last  vestige  of  a  monastic  life  will  be  taken  from 
this  school  as  the  words  "  Theological  Seminary  "  give  way 
to  the  words  "  School  of  Religion  "  and  the  institution  will 
become  in  name  what  it  has  been  in  spirit,  a  school  of  religion — 
open  to  all  the  throbbing,  cosmopolitan  life  of  this  great 
world-center. 


Chapter  VI 

THEOLOGICAL  EDUCATION 

Professor  George  Tolover  Tolson,  M.A.,  B.D. 

Provision  for  theological  education  on  the  Pacific  Coast 
began  to  be  made  fifty  years  ago  with  the  founding  of  this 
institution.  Theological  education  began  when  Pacific  Semi- 
nary opened  its  doors  in  January,  1869;  for  it  was  more  than 
two  years  from  the  founding  of  the  institution  before  instruc- 
tion was  actually  undertaken.  Of  these  early  struggling  years 
we  have  heard  and  shall  hear  more  during  this  jubilee  week. 

It  was  only  two  years  after  instruction  began  in  Pacific 
Seminary  before  another  seminary,  San  Francisco  Theological 
Seminary,  was  founded  and  at  once  commenced  the  training  of 
prospective  ministers,  holding  classes  in  St.  John's  and  Cal- 
vary Presbyterian  Churches,  the  institution  having  "  no 
buildings,  no  grounds  and  no  money." 

The  financial  history  of  San  Francisco  Theological  Seminary 
is  typical.  It  was  ten  years  before  the  first  chair  was  endowed 
and  fourteen  years  before  the  second  professorship  was  pro- 
vided for.  After  seventeen  struggling  but  fruitful  and  faithful 
years  a  new  era  began.  A  check  for  $250,000  was  received. 
This  sum  was  to  be  used  for  the  founding  of  two  professorships, 
the  erection  of  two  buildings  besides  a  residence  for  the  oc- 
cupant of  one  of  the  endowed  chairs,  leaving  a  balance  of 
$40,000  to  be  used  according  to  the  discretion  of  the  trustees. 

In  one  respect  the  history  of  San  Francisco  Seminary  is  not 
typical.  It  began  with  four  professors.  In  another  respect, 
however,  these  early  years  were  typical,  for  the  professors 
"  for  several  years  gave  themselves  earnestly  to  the  work 
without  any  remuneration,  laboring  in  other  fields  to  provide 
the  means  for  their  own  sustenance."     Dr.  Scott  was  the 

108 


Theological  Education  109 

founder  and  for  some  years  the  pastor  of  Calvary  Church; 
afterward  the  organizer  and  for  the  rest  of  his  hfe  pastor  of  St. 
John's  Church.  Dr.  Poor  was  the  founder  of  the  Union 
Church  at  San  Lorenzo,  and  the  builder  of  the  edifice  which 
the  church  now  occupies.  Drs.  Burrows  and  Alexander  were 
for  some  years  connected  with  University  City  College. 

The  first  theological  seminary  class  on  the  Pacific  Coast 
was  graduated  from  Pacific  Seminary  in  1872.  The  next  year 
Pacific  graduated  another  class  of  three  members  and  San 
Francisco  graduated  a  class  of  one  member.  This  man  was  a 
graduate  of  the  College  of  California. 

In  1885  these  two  institutions  had  sent  fifty-eight  young 
men  into  the  ministry  —  Pacific  twenty-eight  and  San  Fran- 
cisco thirty.  Of  these  not  a  few  have  left  the  ministry.  This 
is  what  we  should  expect  in  those  earlier  days  when  the  semi- 
naries could  not  always  get  students  who  had  been  sufficiently 
prepared  for  the  course  and  when  the  call  of  the  undeveloped 
resources  of  a  great  and  rich  country  was  so  insistent.  Six 
went  to  foreign  fields  —  one  from  San  Francisco  and  the  others 
from  Pacific.  By  far  the  greatest  number  became  home 
missionaries,  organizing  many  Sunday  Schools  and  founding 
large  numbers  of  churches.  This  work  alone  is  sufficient 
justification  of  the  existence  of  the  seminaries.  A  number  of 
these  graduates  have  held  high  places  in  the  work  of  the 
churches  on  the  Coast  and  throughout  the  country.  Nine  of 
these  early  graduates  of  San  Francisco  Seminary  became 
authors  of  some  note,  three  of  them  poets. 

The  Methodists  were  the  third  denomination  to  undertake 
the  task  of  preparing  ministers  for  their  work  on  the  Coast. 
Through  the  generosity  of  Senator  Charles  Maclay  of  San 
Fernando  a  building  was  erected  on  the  campus  of  the  Uni- 
versity of  Southern  California,  an  institution  then  only  five 
or  six  years  old.  In  the  fall  of  the  year  1886  Maclay  College 
of  Theology  opened  its  doors. 

In  the  hard  times  of   1893  the  college  closed  its  doors. 


110        Religious  Progress  on  the  Pacific  Slope 

After  14  years,  i.  e.,  in  1907,  upon  the  urgent  request  of  the 
annual  conference,  the  college  was  reopened,  under  the  re- 
organizing leadership  of  the  present  Dean,  Dr.  Ezra  A.  Healey. 

The  fourth  seminary  to  be  opened  also  has  had  an  inter- 
mittent history.  In  the  year  1890,  the  Rev.  E.  H.  Gray, 
D.D.,  opened  classes  in  the  Pacific  Coast  Baptist  Theological 
Seminary,  on  Twelfth  St.,  Oakland,  in  a  building  given  by 
Mrs.  Maria  M.  Gray.  Upon  the  death  of  Dr.  Gray  in  1894, 
the  work  of  the  Seminary  was  suspended,  largely  for  finan- 
cial reasons.  Instruction  was  resumed  in  1905  under  Presi- 
dent Hill,  in  the  building  on  Dwight  Way,  Berkeley,  which  the 
Seminary  now  occupies. 

Twenty-seven  years  after  the  founding  of  the  first,  the 
fifth  theological  seminary  was  established  in  1893,  the  Church 
Divinity  School  of  the  Pacific,  in  the  beautiful  seclusion  of 
San  Mateo.  The  earthquake  of  1906  seriously  damaged  the 
quadrangle  that  was  then  under  construction.  In  1911  the 
school  was  removed  to  the  spacious  Cathedral  block  in  San 
Francisco,  where  it  now  occupies  a  beautiful  building  which, 
with  another  to  be  erected  contiguous  to  it,  will  form  a  noble 
part  of  the  Cathedral  quadrangle.  In  the  early  days  the 
teaching  force  of  the  Divinity  School  consisted  of  the  Dean  and 
"  the  resident  Professor." 

In  October,  1895,  E.  C.  Sanderson  began  teaching  seven 
pupils  of  the  newly  incorporated  Eugene  Divinity  School 
at  Eugene,  Ore.  In  1908  the  name  of  the  school  was  changed 
to  Eugene  Bible  University,  of  which  the  Bible  College  is  one 
of  the  five  or  six  schools. 

The  Pacific  Unitarian  School  for  the  Ministry  was  begun 
frankly  as  an  experiment.  And  indeed  it  would  seem  a 
hazardous  undertaking  when  there  were  only  about  twenty 
churches  of  that  persuasion  on  the  Coast.  Five  years  were 
to  be  allowed  as  its  period  of  probation.  Before  the  end  of 
the  second  year  the  school  had  convinced  its  supporters  that 
there  was  a  place  for  it.     A  charter  was  secured  in  1906. 


Theological  Education  111 

The  school  was  opened  in  Berkeley  in  August  of  that  year, 
the  first  two  years  having  been  spent  in  Oakland. 

The  newest  of  the  seminaries  was  born  just  ten  years  ago, 
Kimball  College  of  Theology,  Methodist.  It  is  located  at  the 
seat  of  Willamette  University  (Methodist),  Salem,  Ore. 
The  founder  and  benefactor  of  the  school  was  the  late  Dr. 
Henry  D.  Kimball,  who  was  also  the  head  of  the  institution 
for  eight  years. 

It  would  not  be  right  for  us  to  go  on  without  mentioning 
the  Berkeley  Bible  Seminary,  which  was  opened  in  Stiles 
Hall  in  August,  1906,  under  Prof.  S.  M.  Jefferson,  D.D.,  a 
man  of  fine  mental  and  spiritual  equipment  and  an  inspiring 
teacher.  Dr.  Jefferson,  who  was  called  to  an  eastern  college, 
had  worthy  successors  in  Dr.  Hiram  Van  Kirk  and  Dr.  H. 
H.  Guy.     The  Seminary  ceased  its  work  in  Berkeley  in  1912. 

Besides  Berkeley  Bible  Seminary  there  have  been  founded 
on  this  coast  eight  theological  seminaries,  at  what  cost  of 
labor,  devotion,  sacrifice,  we  may  guess  when  we  shall  have 
heard  more  of  the  early  history  of  one  of  them  during  this 
jubilee  week.  In  several  cases  one  man  was  strong  enough 
physically  and  mentally  and  had  sufficient  Yankee-like  in- 
genuity to  be  president,  secretary,  librarian  and  the  whole 
teaching  force. 

Judging  from  the  long  years  of  able  service  to  the  churches 
or  in  foreign  fields  of  some  of  the  early  graduates  of  these 
schools  we  are  led  to  the  conviction  that  the  lack  of  equip- 
ment of  those  early  schools  was  made  up  to  the  students  by 
the  apostohc  heroism  of  their  devoted  teachers. 

The  following  denominations  now  have  schools  on  the  Coast 
for  the  training  of  their  ministry,  named  in  the  order  of  their 
founding:  Congregationalists,  Presbyterians,  Methodists, 
Episcopalians,  Baptists,  Protestant  Episcopalians,  Disciples, 
and  Unitarians. 

Of  the  eight  theological  seminaries  on  the  Coast,  two  are  in 
Oregon,  one  in  Southern  California  and  the  other  five  on 


112        Religious  Progress  on  the  Pacific  Slope 

San  Francisco  Bay,  three  in  Berkeley.  All  but  two  of  these 
institutions  are  located  at  the  seats  of  universities.  The  two 
Methodist  Schools  and  Eugene  Divinity  School  were  originally 
located  at  the  seats  of  universities.  The  three  schools  now  in 
Berkeley  were  started  elsewhere  and  deliberately  removed  to 
Berkeley,  one  of  them  at  great  sacrifice,  in  order  to  take  ad- 
vantage of  the  privileges  offered  by  the  University  of  California. 

San  Francisco  Seminary  removed  in  1892  from  the  city  to 
its  beautiful  situation  in  Marin  County.  The  Church  Divinity 
School  deliberately  chose  a  cathedral  in  preference  to  a  uni- 
versity when  it  removed  from  San  Mateo  to  Cathedral  Block, 
San  Francisco,  in  1911. 

Of  the  eight  schools  only  two  are  at  all  worthily  equipped 
with  buildings  for  the  work  of  a  divinity  school.  San  Fran- 
cisco Seminary  is  by  all  odds  the  best  housed  of  the  seminaries 
on  the  Coast.  Montgomery  Chapel,  the  two  other  stone 
buildings  on  Foster  Hill  and  the  little  group  of  professors' 
houses  all  nestle  beautifully,  though  monastically,  in  the 
Marin  Hills.  Church  Divinity  School  occupies  a  fine  new 
building,  costing  $65,000,  one  of  the  two  that  will  eventually 
form  the  Divinity  School  section  of  the  quadrangle  on  Cathe- 
dral Block,  San  Francisco.  The  three  seminaries  in  Berkeley 
are  especially  poorly  housed.  Two  of  them  have  exceedingly 
fine  sites  contiguous  to  the  university,  on  which  they  hope  to 
build  in  the  not  distant  future,  it  is  hoped.  The  third  is  launch- 
ing upon  a  campaign  for  larger  equipment. 

Only  two  seminaries  on  the  Coast  have  any  considerable 
endowment,  the  two  oldest  —  Pacific  and  San  Francisco. 
Of  these  the  former  has  the  larger  productive  endowment, 
the  latter  having  a  quarter  of  a  million  dollars  invested  in 
buildings  and  grounds.  A  third  institution,  the  Unitarian, 
is  just  now  falling  heir  to  several  hundred  thousand  dollars. 
Others  are  actively  engaged  in  efforts  to  increase  their  endow- 
ments. Dioceses,  conferences  and  associations  being  more 
or  less  unsteady  in  their  educational  policies,  the  only  cer- 


Theological  Education  113 

tainty  of  the  permanency  of  a  theological  seminary  is  a  produc- 
tive endowment. 

Only  three  theological  seminaries  on  the  Coast  have  over 
ten  thousand  volumes  in  their  hbraries  —  San  Francisco, 
Pacific  and  Pacific  Unitarian  School. 

In  the  number  of  graduates,  the  older  institutions  have  the 
advantage.  San  Francisco  leads  with  189  alumni,  Pacific 
following  with  167.  Church  Divinity  School  has  71  alumni; 
Maclay,  50. 

While  the  attendance  at  every  one  of  the  seminaries  has 
varied  from  year  to  year,  on  the  whole  the  number  of  students 
has  steadily  increased.  During  the  year  1875-76  there  were 
enrolled  in  the  Coast  seminaries  20  students;  in  1885-86, 
24;  in  1895-96,  49;  in  1905-06,  76;  during  the  past  year, 
1915-16,  the  number  of  students  reached  the  maximum  of 
180.  The  more  rapid  increase  within  the  last  two  decades 
is  due  largely  to  the  founding  of  one  and  the  reopening  of 
another  institution  within  that  period.  Subtracting  the 
number  of  students  in  these  two  institutions  from  the  total, 
we  still  have  an  increase  in  the  attendance  upon  the  other 
seminaries  from  76  to  136  in  ten  years.  The  number  of 
students  enrolled  in  the  two  oldest  institutions,  Pacific 
and  San  Francisco,  has  shown  a  steady  growth,  slow  in  the 
first  years,  more  rapid  in  later  years  —  the  number  of  students 
and  the  rate  of  increase  being  practically  the  same  in  the  two 
institutions.  From  1875-6,  counting  by  decades,  the  growth 
of  each  student  body  has  been  about  as  follows:  10,  12,  22, 
28,  40.  The  increase  in  the  number  of  theological  students 
in  the  Coast  institutes  has  been  a  more  or  less  constant  ac- 
celeration and  augurs  extremely  well  for  the  future. 

In  earher  days,  under  pioneer  conditions,  one  professor 
might  be  able  to  teach  two  or  even  three  subjects  and  be  able 
to  furnish  the  insufficiently  prepared  student  all  the  materials 
he  could  appropriate.  In  those  days  the  furniture  of  the 
theological  seminaries  consisted  more  largely  of  theological 


114        Religious  Progress  on  the  Pacific  Slope 

settees  than  of  theological  chairs.  Let  me  hasten  to  say, 
however,  that  among  the  professors  there  were  giants  in 
those  days,  intellectual  giants,  moral  and  spiritual  giants, 
men  of  great  learning  and  of  fine  culture,  of  great  hearts  and 
undaunted  courage,  whose  writings  display  intellectual 
acumen,  moral  passion  and  a  beautiful  literary  style.  Some 
of  them  were  prophets  and  seers  who  saw  our  own  times  and 
rejoiced  at  the  progress  to  be.  Few  are  the  chairs  in  the 
theological  seminaries  today  occupied  by  men  as  far  ahead  of 
their  times  and  as  far  above  the  average  of  their  students  as 
was  frequently  the  case  in  those  days.  This  is  not  sentiment 
but  fact,  as  any  one  may  learn  who  cares  to  read  some  of  the 
writings  of  those  pioneer  theological  professors. 

But  the  times  have  changed.  The  demands  upon  the 
professor  have  increased  with  the  number  and  quality  and 
preparation  of  the  students.  It  is  out  of  the  question  today 
for  one  man  to  occupy  several  chairs  and  do  justice  to  college 
trained  young  men.  On  the  Pacific  Coast  today,  theological 
professors  must  be  specialists,  each  in  his  own  department. 
The  times  imperatively  demand  this  speciahzation. 

In  this  respect,  institutions  that  are  located  at  the  seats 
of  colleges,  or  that  can  co-operate  one  with  another  as  do  the 
seminaries  located  in  Berkeley,  have  a  tremendous  advantage. 
The  mutual  rehance  upon  one  another  and  upon  the  uni- 
versity contributes  inestimably  to  the  efficiency  of  the  theo- 
logical seminaries  of  Berkeley. 

By  combining  minor  and  kindred  departments,  it  m'ight  be 
possible  for  standard  instruction  to  be  given  in  all  the  neces- 
sary departments  by  perhaps  seven  professors.  Judged  by 
this  standard,  several  of  the  theological  schools  of  the  Coast 
can  scarcely  be  considered  sufficiently  manned  for  their 
tasks. 

Notwithstanding  the  small  number  of  professors  in  a 
number  of  the  schools,  it  is  a  matter  of  surprise  that  so  many 
of  the  Coast  seminaries,  realizing  the  need  of  a  broad  training 


Theological  Education  115 

for  ministers,  offer  courses  in  practically  all  the  essential 
departments  of  modern  theological  training.  All  of  the 
seminaries  offer  courses,  or  make  provision  for  courses  in 
co-operating  institutions,  in  the  following  departments: 
Old  Testament,  including  Hebrew;  New  Testament,  including 
Greek;  Church  History;  Christian  Doctrine;  Homiletics; 
Rehgious  Education;  Pastoral  Methods  and  Vocal  Expres- 
sion. All  but  one  make  some  sort  of  provision  for  training  in 
Social  Service.  About  half  furnish  courses  in  PoHty  and  the 
same  number  provide  courses  in  Psychology  of  Religion. 
Six  of  the  eight  seminaries  make  some  provision  for  study  in 
the  History  of  Missions,  three  in  Hymnology  and  two  or  three 
in  Vocal  Music. 

Inasmuch  as  in  the  larger  number  of  the  schools  the  facul- 
ties are  composed  of  but  few  members,  it  is  quite  right  that 
emphasis  should  be  put  upon  the  main  subjects  of  the  theo- 
logical curriculum. 

In  none  of  the  seminaries,  with  perhaps  here  and  there  an 
exception,  are  the  departments  of  Social  Service,  Psychology 
and  Philosophy  of  Religion,  Rehgious  Education,  Missions, 
Hymnology  and  Litiirgics  as  strong  as  they  should  be  for  the 
training  of  young  ministers  for  the  work  of  a  modern  parish. 
It  would  seem  wise  for  the  seminaries  located  in  Berkeley  to 
cease  duplicating  courses  and  by  co-operation  or  by  delegating 
certain  departments  to  certain  seminaries  establish  some 
of  these  great,  neglected  departments  in  a  strong  fashion. 

These  seminaries  are  all  engaged  in  the  training  of  ministers. 
Thus  far  none  of  them  has  undertaken  any  larger  task  to 
any  great  degree.  Pacific  has  arranged  its  curriculum  in 
four  groups:  Pastoral,  Rehgious  Education,  Social  Service 
and  Foreign  Mission  groups.  So  far,  these  are  prophecies 
rather  than  reahzations,  though  co-operation  with  the  other 
seminaries  and  the  University  of  California  enables  the  school 
to  make  all  of  these,  with  the  exception  of  the  last  named, 
reasonably   strong   courses.     There   ought,    however,    to   be 


116        Religious  Progress  on  the  Pacific  Slope 

within  the  faculty  of  the  seminary,  deans,  or  heads  of  these 
groups.     Other  groups  should  be  added. 

The  churches  west  of  the  Rockies  have  neglected  the  train- 
ing of  their  sons  and  daughters  in  certain  lines  of  church  and 
social  work.  Here  at  the  Gateway  of  the  Orient  there  ought, 
in  all  reason,  to  be  located  a  well-equipped  school  of  missions 
backed  by  all  the  Protestant  denominations.  This  is  pressing; 
it  is  imperative.  There  should  be  a  training  school  for  lay 
workers  and  for  promising  candidates  for  religious  work  who 
have  not  had  sufficient  training,  to  enable  them  to  enter  the 
regular  seminary  course.  There  should  be  schools  of  Social 
Service  for  Y.  M.  C.  A.  and  Y.  W.  C.  A.  workers,  and  for 
deaconesses  of  the  different  denominations. 

In  order  to  attain  the  greatest  efficiency,  with  the  least  outlay 
of  Christian  money,  these  schools  ought  to  be  located  in  Berke- 
ley at  the  seat  of  the  University  of  California,  so  as  to  make 
use  of  the  libraries,  museums  and  class  rooms  that  are  here. 

Until  the  seminaries  have  larger  material  resources  and  a 
larger  number  of  faculty  members  it  would  seem  necessary 
for  them  to  confine  their  work  rather  largely  to  the  work  of 
preparing  ministers.  At  the  present  time  the  seminaries  do 
so  confine  themselves  with  some  slight  exceptions. 

In  this  chosen  field  the  seminaries  are  uniformly  seeking  to 
maintain  a  high  standard.  The  regular  courses  are  for  college 
graduates.  All  which  give  degrees  give  the  B.D.  degree  only 
to  men  who  have  a  college  degree  or  its  equivalent.  Several 
institutions  give  a  certificate  or  a  diploma  for  three  years' 
seminary  work  to  men  who  have  no  college  degree.  The 
length  of  the  course  is  uniformly  three  years  in  all  the  Coast 
seminaries.     There  is  no  disposition  to  shorten  this  period. 

Perhaps  all  the  seminaries  upon  the  Coast  would  consider 
themselves  progressive.  Judged  by  the  standards  of  the 
seminaries  in  this  country  that  are  recognized  as  leaders  in 
Christian  thought  Hke  Chicago,  Union,  Yale  and  Harvard  and 
others,  more  than  half  of  those  on  this  coast  would  be  con- 


Theological  Education  117 

sidered  very  conservative.  However,  conservatism  and  liberal- 
ism are  relative  terms.  The  more  important  question  is: 
Are  these  seminaries  leading  their  various  constituencies  in 
Christian  thought?  Are  they  sending  out  young  ministers 
who  will  be  able  to  lead  the  churches  into  clear,  reasonable, 
intelhgible,  moral  and  spiritual  interpretations  of  religion? 

The  seminaries  are  schools.  It  is  their  business  to  teach. 
To  teach,  first  of  all  young  ministers,  and  through  them  prin- 
cipally, —  but  also  more  or  less  directly  through  the  professors, 
—  the  people  the  way  of  life.  It  is  a  part  of  the  work  of  the 
seminaries  to  become  the  interpreters  of  reUgious  truth  to 
the  churches  and  through  them  to  the  great  confused  world  of 
men  and  women.  Are  the  seminaries  far  enough  in  advance 
of  the  present  generation  to  prepare  preachers  for  the  coming 
generation?  Are  the  seminaries  on  the  Coast  thus  leading  in 
clarifying  religious  thought  and  making  rehgion  possible  for 
the  modern  man? 

Academic  freedom  is  absolutely  essential  in  a  school.  The 
balance  between  the  freedom  of  the  theological  school  and 
popular  denominational  control  is  a  dehcate  matter.  Where 
boards  of  trustees  are  elected  officially  by  denominational 
bodies,  this  control  is  in  danger  of  hampering  free  investiga- 
tion and  free  expression  of  its  results.  Where  boards  are  not 
so  elected  or  nominated  it  is  still  possible  that  popular  bodies 
not  competent  to  judge  the  work  of  scholars  may  pass  judg- 
ment upon  them  indirectly  through  denominational  opinion. 
This  is  the  case  where  the  seminary  depends  upon  the  good 
will  of  the  churches  for  the  supply  of  students  for  its  classes 
and  for  the  means  for  carrying  on  its  work.  In  such  cases  the 
school  may  lead  if  it  does  so  sufficiently  skilfully. 

There  are  two  conditions  that  are  perhaps  equally  disastrous : 
that  the  seminaries  should  be  so  controlled  by  the  churches 
as  not  to  be  able  to  lead,  or  that  they  should  be  so  far  in  ad- 
vance of  the  churches  that  there  should  be  a  hopeless  cleavage 
between  the  schools  and  the  churches. 


118        Religious  Progress  on  the  Pacific  Slope 

Here  upon  this  western  coast,  where  there  are  communities 
still  comparatively  new  and  having  many  of  the  features  of 
frontier  hfe,  it  would  seem  that  the  seminaries  should  adopt 
some  of  the  methods  of  the  training  school  into  the  theological 
curriculum.  In  the  new  west,  where  Christian  traditions  are  by 
no  means  strong,  evangehsm  will  be  necessary  for  some  years 
to  come.  Rehgious  education  in  the  home  or  in  the  church 
can  scarcely  supplant  evangehsm.  Educational  evangehsm 
if  it  were  more  efficiently  developed  in  the  church  (and  if 
enough  of  the  population  were  in  the  churches),  might  make 
the  revival  and  personal  evangelism  less  necessary.  But  that 
is  certainly  not  the  condition  here  in  the  west. 

The  seminaries  of  the  Coast  are  neglecting  this  side  of 
preparation  for  preaching  the  gospel.  Uniformly  they  omit 
evangelism  from  their  courses.  It  is  left  unfortunately  to  the 
training  schools  that  are  so  archaic  as  to  be  in  general  dis- 
repute with  thinking  people.  One  of  the  great  weapons  of 
the  church  is  left  to  rust  or  is  passed  over  into  incompetent 
hands.  If  the  Coast  seminaries  are  to  train  workers  and  to 
meet  the  needs  of  the  Coast  they  must  provide  studies  and 
training  in  pubhc  and  private  evangehsm.  Because  these 
methods  have  been  used  by  misguided  people  is  not  at  all 
sufficient  excuse  for  the  seminary's  neglect  of  them.  Rather 
should  the  seminary  redeem  them  by  a  sane  use  of  them. 

The  student  of  the  history  of  American  Christianity  is 
familiar  with  the  fact  that  since  the  time  of  Edwards  there 
has  scarcely  been  a  generation  when  a  revival  has  not  swept 
over  some  parts  of  the  country.  These  have  terminated 
periods  of  religious  indifference  and  have  kept  American 
Christianity  vital  and  vigorous.  The  times  have  changed. 
Methods  will  also  change,  but  special  seasons  of  concentrated 
and  co-operative  effort  of  the  churches  to  freshen  the  religious 
interest  of  church  members  and  to  reach  out  after  those  whom 
the  regular  means  of  church  work  have  not  attracted  ought 
never  to  be  neglected.     Theological  seminaries  never  have 


Theological  Education  119 

been  sufficiently  interested  in  this  sort  of  religious  phenomena, 
but  have  left  revivals  alone,  with  unwholesome  results.  Not 
one  of  the  seminaries  on  the  Coast,  where  the  need  is  so  great, 
gives  this  subject  more  than  a  passing  glance. 

Theological  education  on  the  Coast  will  not  be  complete 
until  provision  is  made  for  the  continuous  education  of  the 
student  after  he  leaves  the  seminary  or  for  occasional  periods 
of  further  education.  It  is  not  necessary  to  argue  the  case. 
It  is  sufficient  only  to  call  attention  to  the  fact  that  large  and 
long  usefulness  in  the  ministry  will  depend  upon  continuous 
student  habits.  Perhaps  the  temptation  is  stronger  in  the 
West  than  in  some  other  parts  of  the  country  for  the  minister 
to  neglect  the  study.  Here,  then,  it  may  be  an  especially 
urgent  duty  on  the  part  of  the  seminary  to  follow  up  the 
graduate.  This  might  be  done  by  occasionally  bringing 
him  back  to  the  seminary  for  a  period  during  the  regular 
sessions.  Other  means  which  may  be  employed  are  institutes, 
correspondence  courses,  summer  sessions  and  circulating 
libraries,  with  carefully  outlined  courses  of  reading. 

A  number  of  institutes  of  one  or  two  weeks'  duration  have 
been  held.  These  have  proven  helpful  and  will  doubtless  be 
employed  more  and  more.  For  three  summers  the  seminaries 
about  the  Bay  held  a  "  Federated  Summer  School  of  Theol- 
ogy." This  was  really  an  institute,  of  ten  days'  length. 
The  results  seemed  scarcely  to  justify  the  expenditure,  and 
they  ceased. 

Two  summer  sessions  have  been  held  —  one  by  Pacific 
during  the  Panama-Pacific  Exposition,  and  one  at  the  San 
Francisco  Seminary  during  the  past  summer  at  the  urgent 
request  of  the  Presbyterian  Home  Missions  Board.  Pacific 
Seminary  will  probably  prefer  to  hold  short  institutes  in 
different  parts  of  the  Coast  —  alternating  between  the  south- 
ern, northern  and  middle  sections. 

Inasmuch  as  hbraries  are  becoming  quite  universal  among 


120        Religious  Progress  on  the  Pacific  Slope 

cities  and  towns  of  the  Coast,  it  may  not  be  advisable  for  the 
seminaries  to  undertake  circulating  libraries.  And  yet  the 
General  Theological  Library  of  Boston  is  proving  more  and 
more  a  boon  to  New  England  ministers,  although  in  that  sec- 
tion public  libraries  are  more  numerous  than  in  any  other  part 
of  the  country.  The  Coast  seminaries  could  at  least  prepare 
reading  lists  on  different  subjects  from  time  to  time  and  send 
to  their  alumni.  By  such  means  theological  education  on  the 
Coast  could  be  somewhat  further  extended. 

The  scarcity  of  opportunities  for  theological  students  to 
maintain  themselves  by  work  in  their  chosen  profession 
is  a  serious  handicap  to  the  seminaries  on  the  Coast.  A  large 
proportion  of  students  are  under  the  necessity  of  earning 
their  living  while  pursuing  their  courses.  They  are  not  to  be 
blamed  if  they  go  to  seminaries  located  where  they  can  earn 
their  way  while  gaining  experience  in  their  life  work.  Churches 
suitable  for  student  pastorates  are  comparatively  few  on  this 
coast,  and  at  such  long  range  as  to  make  it  difficult  and  un- 
profitable to  go  and  come.  Churches  employing  paid  as- 
sistants are  also  few.  To  meet  the  difficulties  of  student 
maintenance  caused  by  these  conditions  is  a  serious  problem 
for  the  Coast  seminaries. 

Only  three  of  the  eight  seminaries  have  any  scholarship 
endowments,  though  students  of  another  are  able  in  limited 
numbers  to  secure  scholarships  provided  by  funds  outside 
of  the  school.  Students  of  half  of  the  seminaries  on  the 
Coast  receive  no  assistance  from  their  institutions.  The 
scholarships  provided  by  those  seminaries  that  have  endow- 
ments for  such  purposes  pay  the  student  from  $100  to  $200  a 
year.  This  is  a  great  assistance,  as  any  one  who  has  had  such 
aid  while  working  his  way  well  knows,  but  it  does  not  meet  the 
needs  of  the  case. 

Is  such  help  demoralizing?  It  may  be.  Perhaps  our  naval 
and  mihtary  academies,  which  do  much  more  for  their  stu- 
dents, are  demoralizing;  but  no  one  seems  to  think  so.     Minis- 


Theological  Education  121 

terial  students  give  themselves  to  the  church  in  as  sacrificial 
a  way  as  graduates  of  Annapohs  and  West  Point  give  them- 
selves to  the  country. 

One  thing  seems  quite  clear.  Whether  they  be  grants,  loans, 
or  worked  for  in  the  service  of  the  seminaries  or  of  the  churches, 
scholarships  should  be  provided  by  the  seminaries  up  to  a 
maximum  of  $300  a  year.  Preferably  these  scholarships 
should  be  earned  by  students  in  such  church  and  social  work 
as  will  contribute  to  their  preparation  for  their  calling.  In 
this  way  the  student's  efforts  to  earn  a  living,  so  as  not  to 
enter  a  non-lucrative  profession  in  debt,  will  be  aided.  At 
the  same  time  he  will  not  be  so  likely  to  acquire  that  notion, 
so  disastrous  in  every  walk  of  life,  that  the  world  owes  him  a 
living. 

If  that  greatest  sin  of  the  churches,  division,  is  ever  to  be 
forgiven,  and  repentance,  and  work  meet  for  repentance,  is  to 
be  done,  i.e.,  if  the  ungodly  schism  of  the  churches,  and  com- 
petition, sinfully  wasteful  of  both  men  and  means,  is  to  cease  — 
and  it  is  going  to  cease  —  it  will  not  come  about  very  rapidly 
without  the  union  or  the  co-operation  of  the  churches  in  the 
education  of  the  coming  generations  of  ministers. 

Union  efforts  of  the  churches  in  theological  education  and 
co-operation  of  different  denominational  and  undenominational 
seminaries  help  greatly  to  break  down  denominational  preju- 
dices of  the  ministry,  and  hence  of  the  churches.  That  this  is 
not  mere  theory  but  actual  fact  has  been  proven  over  and 
over  again  in  the  mingling  of  representatives  of  various 
denominations  in  the  classrooms  of  the  Berkeley  seminaries. 

Facts  prove,  too,  that  denominational  loyalty  in  such 
students  remains  as  strong  as  ever  and  it  becomes  intelligent 
loyalty,  not  denominational  prejudice.  While  appreciating 
the  points  of  view  of  men  of  other  denominations  and  the 
excellences  of  the  different  bodies  of  Christians,  students 
trained  in  co-operating  seminaries  value,  too,  the  special  values 
and  emphasis  of  their  own  type  of  faith  and  piety. 


122        Religious  Progress  on  the  Pacific  Slope 

It  is  highly  important  that  the  young  minister  know  his 
own  time  both  as  respects  the  church  and  the  civiHzation  of 
the  day,  the  trend  of  things,  the  direction  of  progress,  that  he 
may  know  what  to  emphasize  in  his  preaching  and  in  the 
administration  of  the  local  church  and  of  denominational 
affairs.  Many  very  earnest  people  unwittingly  hinder  the 
progress  of  the  Kingdom  and  defeat  their  own  purposes  for 
lack  of  proper  perspective. 

We  believe  that  it  is  only  from  seminaries  that  have  absolute 
academic  freedom  that  students  go  forth,  not  to  waste  their 
strength  in  retarding  the  progress  of  civilization  but  intelli- 
gently to  forward  the  Kingdom  of  God  both  in  their  local 
church  and  in  their  denomination. 

We  need  the  warm  glow  of  zeal  and  the  cheering  and  hearten- 
ing effect  of  enthusiasm  as  much  as  ever  in  the  history  of  the 
church.  But  in  a  civiHzation  becoming  ever  more  complex 
we  need  light  far  more  than  ever  before.  We  need  young 
men  in  the  ministry  of  the  churches  who  know  what  civiliza- 
tion was  two  thousand  years  ago,  and  who  understand  the 
civilization  of  today  and  have  a  vision,  or  a  concept  if  you 
choose,  of  what  civilization  may  reasonably  be  expected  to 
be  in  the  future,  and  who  will  administer  the  affairs  of  their 
churches  and  their  denomination  so  as  to  bring  it  to  early 
realization.  It  is  practically  impossible  to  obtain  such  a 
vision  unless  the  mind  and  heart  are  free  from  the  blinding 
effect  of  denominational  prejudice.  The  man  who  glories  in 
his  denomination  exhibits  his  ignorance  of  what  Jesus  purposed 
for  his  church.  I  will  be  loyal  to  my  church  and  to  my  de- 
nomination, for  only  so  can  I  serve  the  church  of  Christ  under 
the  present  conditions.     But  I  will  glory  only  in  Christ. 

The  fact  that  so  large  a  portion  of  the  theological  education 
on  our  coast  is  done  in  Berkeley  is  full  of  significance.  The 
time  may  not  be  ripe  for  the  Berkeley  seminaries  to  unite; 
to  attempt  it  at  this  stage  of  denominational  temper  or  dis- 
temper on  the  Coast  might  only  hinder  the  coming  of  a  better 


Theological  Education  123 

day.  But  let  there  be  as  much  co-operation  as  possible  now 
and  let  it  increase  as  lowering  denominational  barriers  make 
it  possible. 

There  is  one  department  of  work  at  least  in  which  the 
seminaries  about  San  Francisco  Bay  could  and  ought  heartily 
to  co-operate,  namely,  training  students  for  foreign  missions. 
The  transplanting  of  denominationahsm  into  the  foreign  fields, 
where  there  are  not  the  same  historical  reasons  for  different 
denominations  as  here,  is  scarcely  less  than  diabolical.  Chris- 
tians in  every  country  should  be  allowed  the  privilege  of  work- 
ing out  their  own  ideas  according  to  their  own  modes  of  think- 
ing. Thus  will  Christian  thought  make  a  stronger  and  clearer 
appeal.  Give  the  non-Christian  peoples  the  Scriptures,  a 
knowledge  of  Christian  history,  and  the  spirit  of  the  mission- 
ary, then  allow  them  to  express  Christian  truth  in  their  own 
modes  of  thought. 

The  study  of  the  curricula  of  theological  schools  on  the 
Pacific  Coast  shows  that  one  of  their  weakest  points  is  in  their 
missionary  departments,  and  there  is  not  one  training  school 
for  foreign  service.  Can  any  one  doubt  that  here  in  the 
West,  the  meeting  place  of  the  civilizations  of  the  world,  this 
—  one  of  our  weakest  points  —  should  be  our  strongest?  We 
beheve  that  there  is  in  the  seminaries  about  San  Francisco  Bay 
sufficient  Christian  Spirit  to  make  this  matter  of  training  for 
foreign  service  as  thoroughgoing  in  every  respect  as  training 
for  the  home  field,  and  to  do  this  in  hearty  and  joyous  co- 
operation. 

The  seminaries  of  early  New  England  and  the  first  ones 
established  on  this  coast  were  to  a  large  degree  general  culture 
schools.  They  differed  from  the  college  in  that  disciphne 
was  in  theological  subjects  instead  of  the  humanities.  Stress 
was  laid  on  exact  knowledge  of  Hebrew  verbs  and  Greek  roots, 
the  acquisition  of  the  professor's  system  of  theology  and  rules 
and  regulations  concerning  the  conduct  of  worship  and 
funerals, 


124        Religious  Progress  on  the  Pacific  Slope 

These  seminaries  admirably  fulfilled  their  functions  as  long 
as  rehgion  was  held  to  consist  all  but  exclusively  in  things 
immediately  connected  with  divine  services  at  the  church 
and  in  the  graveyard.  Now  that  the  church  is  coming  to  be 
a  rehgious,  moral  and  social  dynamo,  and  religion  from  being 
synonymous  with  ecclesiasticism  is  coming  to  be  a  Hfe,  theolog- 
ical education  takes  on  a  different  aspect.  Harvard,  Yale 
and  others  of  the  old  New  England  seminaries  are  placing 
Hebrew  and  even  Greek  on  elective  Hsts,  and  are  adding 
courses  in  economics,  in  sociology,  ethics,  principles  of  educa- 
tion and  other  practical  subjects. 

What  does  this  mean?  Nothing  less  than  that  the  church 
is  breaking  away  from  the  mechanical  conception  of  its  mis- 
sion and  is  undertaldng  the  program  of  Jesus  —  the  realization 
of  the  Kingdom  of  Heaven  on  earth  and  the  redemption  of 
family,  civic,  industrial,  national,  international  and  all  other 
human  relations. 


Chapter  Vll 
SOCIAL  BETTERMENT 
The  Rev.  Albert  Wentworth  Palmer,  B.D. 

Pastor  of  Plymouth  Church,  Oakland,  and  Instructor  in  Pastoral  and 
Social  Problems  in  Pacific  School  of  Religion 

"  The  great  good  of  reading  history  or  biography  is  to  get  a 
gHmpse  of  men  and  nations  doing  their  duty;  the  great  gain 
to  be  got  from  it  is  a  deeper  worship  and  reverence  for  duty 
as  the  king  and  parent  of  all  human  Hfe.  While  it  is  good  to 
walk  among  the  Hving,  it  is  good  also  to  hve  with  the  wise, 
great,  good  dead.  It  keeps  out  of  Hfe  the  dreadful  feehng  of 
extemporaneousness,  with  its  conceit  and  despair.  It  makes 
us  know  that  God  made  other  men  before  he  made  us.  It 
furnishes  a  constant  background  for  our  living.  It  provides 
us  with  perpetual  humihty  and  inspiration."  In  this  spirit 
let  us  turn  back  to  see  what  social  progress  California  has 
made  during  the  last  j&fty  years.  There  is  danger  lest,  with 
our  eyes  too  closely  focused  on  the  present,  we  become  at 
times  discouraged  with  the  slowness  of  our  progress,  the  re- 
crudescence of  reactionary  signs  and  forces,  and  lose  the  sweep 
of  the  full  stream  of  progress  in  contemplating  some  backward 
eddy  near  the  shore.  It  steadies  one's  faith  and  deepens  one's 
courage  to  turn  back  the  pages  of  social  history  here  in  CaH- 
fornia  and  view  the  turmoil  of  the  past  in  the  cool  calm  light  of 
detached  and  impartial  observation. 

As  the  fights  and  duels  and  vituperations,  the  gossip  and 
slander,  riot,  bloodshed,  murder,  bribery,  debauchery  of  the 
past  come  down  to  us  —  much  of  it  absurd  and  ridiculous, 
much  of  it  futile  and  predestined  to  be  futile  —  we  hear  in  our 
ears   Emerson's  cooKng  and  humbhng  question,  "  Why  so 

125 


126        Religious  Progress  on  the  Pacific  Slope 

hot,  my  little  Sir?  "  After  all  how  hot  they  were  —  these 
California  ancestors  of  ours  —  how  quarrelsome,  explosive, 
riotous,  undisciplined!  The  wild  declarations  of  Dennis 
Kearney,  the  sand-lot  orator;  the  hysterical  and  spectacular 
career  of  David  S.  Terry,  judge  of  the  Supreme  Court;  the 
curious  eccentricities  and  extravagances  of  James  Lick  and 
of  Wm.  C.  Ralston,  president  of  the  Bank  of  Cahfornia  — 
how  extreme  and  excited  they  were!  In  the  cool  light  of 
history  we  examine  the  record  anew  and  say  with  Emerson: 
"  Why  so  hot,  my  little  Sir?  " 

And  yet  in  our  way,  and  concerning  questions  which  seem 
vital  to  us,  we  Californians  of  today  can,  on  occasion,  show 
something  of  the  old  temperature  and  the  old  capacity  for  the 
exciting  and  the  spectacular  —  witness  the  dynamiting  of  the 
Times  Building  and  the  Preparedness  Parade,  the  shooting  of 
Heney  during  the  graft  prosecution,  the  anti-Japanese  agita- 
tion and  the  Wheatland  hop  riots.  We  must  admit  that 
California  history  is  pretty  much  all  of  a  piece,  that  we  are 
still  a  turbulent  people,  that  there  is  something  in  our  chmate 
or  our  traditions  or  in  the  temperament  of  the  people  who  have 
been  called  and  chosen  to  be  Californians,  whether  born  here 
or  not,  that  makes  us  a  tumultuous,  unconventional  and 
adventurous  race.  The  adjectives,  shy,  timid,  discreet  and 
circumspect,  do  not  even  yet  characterize  California  life  or 
leaders. 

But  through  all  the  turmoil  of  our  history,  one  who  sees 
beneath  the  surface  of  strife  and  personalities  will  discover 
"  a  labor  worldng  toward  an  end."  It  has  not  all  been  futile 
or  fruitless,  this  excitement  and  strife.  Taking  the  long  look, 
one  sees  that  certain  ideals  and  principles  were  seeking  recogni- 
tion and  admittance  to  our  social  life,  and  with  the  progress  of 
the  years  some  of  these  have  won  their  place  while  others  still 
clamor  outside  the  door. 

Decade  after  decade  the  struggle  in  Cahfornia  has  been 
between  order  and  disorder,  between  a  high  regard  for  human 


Social  Betterment  127 

values  and  a  crass  and  rampant  materialism,  between  an 
exceedingly  fine  and  sensitive  devotion  to  things  spiritual 
and  ideal  and  an  abandoned  absorption  in  the  crudely  physical, 
the  fantastic  and  the  sensual.  This  struggle  and  the  contrast 
it  involves  finds  expression  in  every  department  of  human 
activity.  The  architecture,  literature,  journalism,  art,  in- 
dustrial life,  church  life,  politics,  and  the  recreations  of  Cali- 
fornia all  reveal  it.  Saints  and  sinners,  idealists  and  cynical 
egotists,  stand  strangely  mingled.  James  King  of  William 
and  James  P.  Casey,  Wm.  T.  Coleman  and  Charles  Cora, 
Thomas  Starr  King  and  David  S.  Terry,  Joseph  Worcester 
and  Abe  Ruef,  Edward  Rowland  Sill  and  Dennis  Kearney, 
Edward  Robeson  Taylor  and  Eugene  Schmitz  —  but  it  is  time 
to  cease  the  roll-call;  to  continue  it  into  the  present  would  be 
indiscreet  and  might  be  dangerous!  Suffice  it  to  say  the  old 
antithesis  still  finds  its  modern  representatives. 

The  period  covered  by  this  semi-centennial  celebration 
includes  only  the  years  from  1866  to  1916,  but  two  events  of 
great  social  significance  which  took  place  before  1866  should 
be  emphasized  because  of  their  influence  in  the  direction  of 
social  betterment.  The  first  of  these  two  events  is  the  emer- 
gence of  the  Vigilance  Committee  of  1856.  It  is  important 
that  the  present  generation  should  not  misunderstand  the 
Vigilance  Committee.  It  was  no  mere  outburst  of  mob  rule. 
Never  in  the  history  of  the  state  was  a  body  of  men  more 
completely  organized,  more  cool-headed,  more  ably  led  than 
this  remarkable  reform  organization  under  the  fearless  and 
marvelously  efficient  leadership  of  Wm.  T.  Coleman. 

The  Vigilance  Committee  of  1856  did  more  than  clean  up 
San  Francisco,  it  gave  to  all  Cahfornia  and  to  all  subsequent 
movements  for  reform  a  high  example  of  what  the  decent 
citizens  of  a  community  can  do  when  they  mean  business. 
It  bears  striking  and  undying  testimony  that  the  Californians 
of  early  days  were  not  all  gamblers,  libertines  and  outlaws. 
It  stands  as  a  great  and  efficient  body  of  sober,  honest  and 


128        Religious  Progress  on  the  Pacific  Slope 

high-minded  men  who  represent  the  best  and  finest  traditions 
of  the  state.  We  who  today  struggle  against  Hquor  and  vice, 
against  graft  and  brazen  inhumanity,  who  are  sometimes 
made  to  feel  that  California  is  alien  soil  to  the  church  and  the 
reformer,  to  temperance  and  to  purity,  we  need  sometimes  to 
look  back  across  the  years  to  the  brave  and  true  men  of  Fort 
Gunnybags,  to  James  King  of  William  and  to  Wm.  T.  Cole- 
man, and  remember  that  the  noblest  California  tradition  of 
the  good  old  days  is  represented  not  by  the  Barbary  Coast 
or  the  saloon  but  by  the  militant  reformer  and  the  Christian 
citizen. 

The  other  event  of  the  days  before  1866  which  carries 
especial  social  significance  is  the  final  commitment  of  California 
to  the  cause  of  the  Union  and  freedom.  The  days  at  the  out- 
break of  the  Civil  War  were  very  critical  here  in  California. 
The  South  was  largely  in  control  and  strong  in  numbers  and 
in  prestige,  but  the  forces  which  had  kept  California  free 
from  slavery  also  kept  California  loyal  to  the  Union.  One 
name  above  all  others  stands  out  —  the  name  of  a  young 
Unitarian  minister  who  came  to  California  in  1860,  who  by 
his  eloquence  as  a  speaker  all  up  and  down  the  state  aided 
largely  in  awakening  Union  sentiment,  and  who  then  almost 
literally  burned  out  his  life  raising  vast  sums  of  money  for  the 
Sanitary  Commission  to  relieve  the  wounded  on  the  battle- 
fields of  the  Civil  War.  High  on  the  roll  of  its  workers  for 
social  betterment  we  of  California  must  place  the  name  of 
Thomas  Starr  King.  In  the  fall  of  1862,  California  sent  East 
for  relief  work,  $480,000.  In  1862  Thomas  Starr  King 
promised  $25,000  a  month,  and  California  actually  contributed 
before  the  war  closed  $1,250,000  in  gold  to  the  Sanitary  Com- 
mission out  of  the  total  of  $4,800,000  which  that  commission 
received  from  all  sources.  And  it  is  not  without  significance 
that  in  1864,  Thomas  Starr  King  died.  He  had  literally 
burned  out  his  life  in  the  service  of  humanity.  He  is  one  of 
that  wonderfully  interesting  company  of  heroes  who,  from 


Social  Betterment  129 

St.  Francis  of  Assisi  to  Robert  Louis  Stevenson  and  Rupert 
Brook,  have  lived  not  long  but  gloriously  and  died  when  only 
about  forty  years  of  age. 

After  the  heroic  events  which  center  around  the  names  of 
Wm.  T.  Coleman  and  Thomas  Starr  King,  the  story  of  social 
betterment  is  singularly  undramatic  in  the  years  which  im- 
mediately follow.  And  yet  events  which  were  destined  to  be 
of  no  little  social  significance  were  taking  place.  The  educa- 
tional system  of  the  state  was  being  organized.  John  Swett 
was  superintendent  of  public  instruction  from  1862-67,  laying 
the  foundation  of  our  splendid  public  school  system.  The  first 
State  Normal  School  was  founded  in  1862  in  San  Francisco, 
and  removed  to  San  Jose  in  1871.  Another  Normal  School 
was  founded  in  1881,  in  Los  Angeles.  In  1866  this  Pacific 
Theological  Seminary  was  founded  and  the  next  year  the 
College  of  California  became  the  State  University.  Mills 
Seminary  was  founded  in  1870.  This  movement  for  educa- 
tion, which  we  can  now  see  was  really  coming  to  new  life 
and  power  just  about  fifty  years  ago,  went  steadily  on.  The 
University  of  Southern  California  was  founded  in  1879, 
Pomona  College  in  1887;  Stanford  was  founded  in  1885  and 
opened  in  1891.  These  educational  institutions  are  funda- 
mental in  the  story  of  social  betterment,  not  only  because 
of  the  general  influence  of  culture  and  intelligence,  but 
especially  because  of  the  development  and  comparatively 
recent  recognition  of  the  new  science  of  sociology  which  is 
taught  in  all  the  Colleges  and  Theological  Seminaries  of  the 
state,  and  which  in  its  elementary  form  of  Civics  is  taught  in 
the  splendid  system  of  High  Schools  with  which  California, 
thanks  to  wise  educational  leadership,  has  been  provided. 
There  is  no  question  today  as  to  the  influence  on  social  prob- 
lems of  the  colleges  and  universities.  In  these  strategic 
centers  the  cause  of  social  betterment  is  strong.  The  College 
Settlement,  which  was  a  pioneer  expression  of  the  social 
awakening  of  educated  men  and  women,  is  now  reinforced 


130        Religious  Progress  on  the  Pacific  Slope 

and  supplemented  by  a  host  of  social  agencies  —  some  of 
which  will  be  noted  later  —  and  in  all  of  these,  college  men  and 
women  have  led  and  are  leading  today.  We  who  labor  today 
for  social  betterment  now  realize  that  those  pioneer  souls 
who  back  in  the  60's  and  70's  and  80's  were  laying  the  founda- 
tions of  California's  school  system  and  of  her  colleges  and 
universities,  were  building  better  than  they  knew. 

Another  great  force  in  social  betterment  during  the  last 
fifty  years  has  been  the  workingman.  Labor,  it  must  seem 
to  any  candid  reader  of  California  history,  has  been  tragically 
misled  over  and  over  again,  and  yet,  in  spite  of  betrayal  in 
the  house  of  its  friends,  the  group  of  toilers  has  been  the  power 
behind  no  little  of  the  social  betterment  which  the  last  half 
century  has  witnessed. 

Dennis  Kearney  and  the  "  sand-lot  "  agitators  of  the  seven- 
ties do  not  appeal  to  us  as  promising  workers  for  sane  and 
constructive  social  reforms  —  and  yet,  in  their  crude  way, 
they  were  an  educational  force  and,  very  badly  and  very 
untactfully  it  may  be,  they  nevertheless  registered  a  protest 
which  was  also  prophecy.  The  sand-lot  agitation  was  yeasty, 
complicated  by  a  large  element  of  pure  hoodlumism,  and  yet, 
behind  all  its  oratory  and  lawlessness  and  riot  and  bluff,  a 
real  protest  against  economic  wrong  and  social  injustice  was 
finding  voice  —  a  hoarse,  raucous,  unmusical  voice,  it  is  true, 
and  yet  a  voice  not  to  be  scorned  or  disregarded.  Two  ele- 
ments mingled  in  the  sand-lot  agitation.  One  was  a  feeling 
of  resentment  against  the  rich  who  with  their  quick-gotten 
wealth  were  living  in  selfish  luxury,  taking  little  heed  as  to  the 
condition  of  the  mass  of  humanity  south  of  Market  Street. 
The  other  element  was  hostility  to  the  Chinese  as  tools  of 
the  wealthy  by  which  the  standard  of  hving  of  the  white  man 
was  being  reduced  to  the  Asiatic  level.  While  there  is  nothing 
attractive  about  the  personality  of  Dennis  Kearney,  and  while 
the  persecution  of  the  Chinese  which  resulted  was,  in  its 
wanton  cruelty,  one  of  the  blackest  pages  in  the  history  of  the 


Social  Betterment  131 

state,  nevertheless  from  this  distance  we  who  look  back  across 
the  years  may  well  recognize  that  behind  the  unlovely  voice 
of  the  sand-lot  agitator  there  were  real  grievances  —  griev- 
ances which  ought  to  have  been  met  in  better  ways  or,  better 
still,  forestalled. 

We  in  California  are  now  pretty  well  agreed,  and  we  seem 
to  have  convinced  the  nation,  that  an  unrestricted  immigra- 
tion of  Asiatic  labor  to  compete  with  white  labor,  and  the 
resulting  lowering  of  the  standard  of  living  which  such  com- 
petition involves,  present  an  intolerable  economic  situation 
and  give  rise  to  almost  insoluble  social  problems.  Not 
having  solved  the  race  problem  in  the  South,  it  would  surely 
be  rash  to  invite  another  and  more  dehcate  race  problem  here 
on  the  Pacific  Coast.  So  far  then  as  the  influence  of  the 
workingman  has  been  against  the  introduction  of  Asiatic 
labor,  it  has  unquestionably  been  a  force  for  social  betterment, 
or  at  least  for  preventing  a  situation  in  which  social  better- 
ment would  be  vastly  more  difficult.  At  the  same  time,  one 
must  not  let  this  statement  go  without  a  vigorous  protest 
against  the  methods  by  which  an  end  desirable  in  itself  has 
been  attained.  The  wanton  persecution  of  the  Chinese  in 
earher  days  and  the  untactful  and  offensive  treatment  of 
the  Japanese  subsequently  were  in  no  wise  necessary  to  the 
securing  of  a  cessation  of  coolie  immigration  —  an  end  toward 
which  both  the  Chinese  and  Japanese  governments  were  will- 
ing to  co-operate,  and  which  might  readily  have  been  secured 
without  lowering  our  own  standards  of  courtesy  or  needlessly 
offending  the  dignity  of  other  nations. 

The  sand-lot  movement  is  not  summed  up  in  the  famihar 
slogan,  "  The  Chinese  must  go."  It  gradually  worked  out 
some  of  its  yeast,  in  the  end  it  even  threw  Dennis  Kearney 
into  the  discard  in  May,  1878,  and  out  of  it  came  the  Working- 
men's  Party  of  California  —  still  vociferous  and  noisy  and  ex- 
treme, but  destined  to  be  influential  in  the  development  of 
the  social  conscience  of  the  state.     As  one  looks  back  into  those 


132        Religious  Progress  on  the  Pacific  Slope 

stormy  days  of  the  seventies,  he  is  impressed  that  the  signifi- 
cant and  effective  social  forces  are  not  always  those  which 
command  our  entire  approval.     Emerson  says: 

"  But  in  the  mud  and  scum  of  things 
There  alway,  alway,  something  sings." 

We  can  see  now  that  even  in  the  riotous,  sometimes  almost 
anarchistic,  boihng,  stewing  sand-lot  movement  as  it  finally 
crystallized  in  the  Workingmen's  party  there  were  certain 
social  reforms  coming  to  birth  which,  in  many  cases,  were 
not  to  attain  their  majority  until  our  own  day. 

The  climax  of  the  sand-lot  movement  was  the  Constitutional 
Convention  of  1879,  which  drafted  the  present  constitution 
of  the  state.  That  constitution  is  a  very  unsatisfactory  one 
—  and  if  we  dared  we  would  call  a  convention  and  write  a 
new  one  —  but  it  is  nevertheless  a  profoundly  interesting 
document  from  the  standpoint  of  social  progress. 

James  Bryce,  in  "  The  American  Commonwealth,"  sums  up 
the  grievances  of  the  Workingmen's  Party  and  the  results 
achieved  in  the  Constitution,  as  follows: 

The  Grievances 

1.  The  general  corruption  of  politicians  and  bad  conduct 
of  state,  county,  and  city  government. 

2.  Taxation,  alleged  to  press  too  heavily  on  the  poorer 
class. 

3.  The  tyranny  of  corporations,  especially  railroads. 

4.  The  Chinese. 

The  Results 

1.  It  (the  convention)  restricts  and  limits  in  every  possible 
way  the  powers  of  the  state  legislature,  leaving  it  httle  au- 
thority except  to  carry  out  by  statute  the  provisions  of  the 
constitution.  It  makes  lobbying  (i.e.,  the  attempt  to  cor- 
rupt a  legislator)  and  the  corrupt  action  of  the  legislator, 
felony. 


Social  Betterment  133 

2.  It  forbids  the  state  legislature  or  local  authorities  to 
incur  debts  beyond  a  certain  limit,  taxes  uncultivated  land 
equally  with  the  cultivated,  makes  sums  due  on  mortgage 
taxable  in  the  district  where  the  mortgaged  property  lies, 
authorizes  an  income  tax,  and  directs  a  highly  inquisitorial 
scrutiny  of  everybody's  property  for  the  purposes  of  taxation. 

3.  It  forbids  the  watering  of  stock,  declares  that  the  state  has 
power  to  prevent  corporations  from  conducting  their  business 
so  as  to  infringe  the  general  well-being  of  the  state;  directs 
that  the  charges  of  telegraph  and  gas  companies  and  of 
water-supplying  bodies  be  regulated  and  hmited  by  law; 
institutes  a  railroad  commission  with  power  to  fix  the  trans- 
portation rates  on  all  railroads,  and  examine  the  books  and 
accounts  of  all  transportation  companies. 

4.  It  forbids  all  corporations  to  employ  any  Chinese,  de- 
bars them  from  the  suffrage,  forbids  their  employment  on 
any  public  works,  annuls  all  contracts  for  "  coohe  labor," 
directs  the  legislature  to  provide  for  the  punishment  of  any 
company  which  shall  import  Chinese,  to  impose  conditions 
on  the  residence  of  Chinese  and  to  cause  their  removal  if 
they  fail  to  observe  these  conditions. 

5.  It  also  declares  that  eight  hours  shall  constitute  a  legal 
day's  work  on  all  public  works. 

Most  of  these  results  were  obtained  only  on  paper.  They 
were  prophetic,  however,  and  in  our  own  day  we  have  seen 
at  last  an  honest  legislature  free  from  railroad  domination, 
a  blue  sky-law  to  prevent  the  watering  of  stocks,  a  railroad 
commission  actually  controlling  public  utilities  in  the  interest  of 
the  pubHc,  and  an  eight-hour  law  not  only  for  those  employed 
on  public  works,  but  also  for  workers  in  many  crafts,  for 
women,  and  for  employees  on  interstate  railways. 

No  one  defends  the  constitution  of  1879  as  a  constitution. 
It  is  too  long,  too  complicated,  requires  amendment  too 
frequently.  It  is,  in  fact,  as  some  one  has  said,  a  horrible 
example  of  how  a  constitution  ought  not  to  be  constructed. 


134        Religious  Progress  on  the  Pacific  Slope 

Nevertheless  the  constitution  of  1879  is  interesting  to  the 
student  of  social  progress  in  the  ideals  which  it  sought  to 
establish.     The  following  items  are  significant: 

(1)  The  careful  provision  for  public  schools; 

(2)  The  provision  for  the  permanent  support  of  the  State 
University; 

(3)  The  provision  for  text-books  at  cost  (and  more  re- 
cently free  of  charge) ; 

(4)  The  prohibition  of  dueling; 

(5)  The  establishment  of  a  railroad  commission; 

(6)  The  mechanics'  lien  law,  by  which  the  collection  of 
wages  is  made  easy  to  workingmen; 

(7)  The  attempt  to  discourage  large  holdings  of  land. 

It  may  be  that  some  of  these  things  should  be  in  a  code  of 
laws,  not  in  a  constitution,  but  that  does  not  alter  the  signifi- 
cance of  the  fact  that  the  demand  for  these  things,  whether 
in  code  or  in  constitution,  had  made  itself  heard  and  got  itself 
adopted  by  a  vote  of  77,000  to  67,000,  so  early  as  1879. 

But  the  movement  for  reform  through  pohtical  channels 
seems  to  have  exhausted  itself  with  the  passage  of  the  con- 
stitution of  1879.  The  machinery  of  government  slipped 
into  the  control  of  the  Southern  Pacific  Railroad,  to  remain 
undisturbed  till  the  great  upheaval  of  1911,  when  social 
legislation  of  a  wiser,  more  practical  and  more  efficient  type 
had  its  innings  once  more. 

One  notable  achievement  between  1879  and  1911  should 
be  noted  and  that  was  the  securing  of  the  Australian  ballot 
in  1891.  Franklin  Hichborn  says:  "James  G.  Maguire 
may  be  called  the  father  of  the  Australian  Ballot  in  California, 
for  he  brought  the  idea  here.  Maguire's  attention  was  called 
to  the  Austrahan  election  plan  when  on  a  visit  to  New  York 
in  1889,  by  Allen  Thorndike  Rice,  at  that  time  publisher  of 
the  North  American  Review.  Rice  was  an  enthusiastic  advo- 
cate of  the  reform,  and  was  supporting  it  in  his  Review.  He 
supplied  Maguire,  who  had  already  given  the  subject  some 


Social  Betterment  135 

attention,  with  literature.  On  Maguire's  return  to  San 
Francisco,  he  dehvered  a  lecture  on  the  Austrahan  Ballot 
at  the  old  MetropoHtan  Temple.  The  Federated  Trades 
Council  of  San  Francisco  (a  labor  organization)  became 
interested,  and  at  the  request  of  its  representatives  Maguire 
drew  the  first  Australian  Ballot  measure  ever  prepared  in 
California.  The  passage  of  California's  first  Australian 
Ballot  Law,  largely  through  the  effort  of  the  Federated  Trades 
Council,  followed."  But  the  Railroad  machine,  discovering 
the  danger  which  lay  in  the  Austrahan  Ballot  in  its  original 
form,  soon  amended  it  by  adding  the  "  party  circle  "  and 
"  party  column,"  which  made  it  easy  to  vote  a  straight  ticket, 
and  it  was  not  until  the  famous  Legislature  of  1911,  that  these 
evils  were  stricken  out  and  we  were  given  at  last  a  genuine 
and  effective  Australian  Ballot. 

Possibly  this  is  as  good  a  place  as  any  to  record  the 
notable  social  legislation  of  1911.  Back  of  that  Legislature 
and  its  achievements  stand  the  graft  prosecutions  of  1906 
and  1907.  Sometimes  people  who  do  not  trace  the  con- 
nection of  events  say  that  the  graft  prosecutions  failed. 
Well  in  one  sense  they  did  fail  —  they  did  not  land 
Calhoun  and  the  other  higher-ups  in  the  penitentiary  along 
with  Abe  Ruef,  and  therein  they  failed  to  do  equal  and 
complete  justice.  But  the  graft  prosecutions  did  stir  the 
moral  conscience  of  the  State  of  California  to  its  depths  and 
awakened  a  rebelhon  against  the  corrupt  conditions  in  poli- 
tics revealed  by  the  combination  of  Abe  Ruef  and  Wm.  F. 
Herrin  at  the  famous  Santa  Cruz  Convention.  The  Lincoln- 
Roosevelt  League  was  given  point  and  punch  by  the  evidence 
produced  in  the  graft  trials  in  San  Francisco,  and  when  Hiram 
Johnson  took  the  place  of  Heney  at  the  time  he  was  shot  down, 
and  carried  the  Ruef  trial  through  to  a  conviction  he  also, 
unconsciously,  made  himself  Governor  of  the  state  of  Cali- 
fornia. When  he  said  he  would  kick  the  Southern  Pacific 
out  of  the  politics  of  the  state,  the  people  believed  him.     And 


136        Religious  Progress  on  the  Pacific  Slope 

so  one  of  the  indirect  but  possibly  most  important  results  of 
the  graft  prosecution  was  the  coming  into  political  control 
of  Hiram  Johnson  and  the  Progressive  program  of  social 
legislation. 

No  historian  of  the  future,  whatever  his  political  sympathies 
or  prejudices,  will  be  able  to  overlook  the  remarkable  record  of 
legislation  in  the  direction  of  social  betterment  which  the 
last  five  years  have  witnessed  in  this  state.  That  record 
includes: 

(1)  The  election  of  United  States  Senators  by  the  people. 

(2)  An  effective  direct  primary  law. 

(3)  The  restoration  of  the  Australian  Ballot. 

(4)  The  initiative,  referendum  and  recall. 

(5)  The  making  of  the  Railroad  Commission  appointive 
instead  of  elective,  and  giving  it  effective  control  of  all  public 
utilities. 

(6)  The  Employers'  Liability  law  and  the  creation  of  a 
State  Industrial  Accident  Board  with  a  system  of  state 
accident  insurance. 

(7)  The  eight-hour  day  for  women. 

(8)  A  system  of  State  Employment  Bureaus. 

(9)  A  blue-sky  law  to  control  and  supervise  the  issue  of 
stocks  and  bonds. 

(10)  Equal  suffrage  for  women. 

(11)  Various  other  measures  in  behalf  of  public  morals. 
There  is  a  class  of  people  who  are  fond  of  reminding  us: 

"  You  cannot  make  people  good  by  legislation."  This  is 
one  of  those  half  truths  which  are  especially  pernicious  be- 
cause they  are  half  truths.  The  whole  truth  requires  simply 
an  added  word  —  "  You  cannot  make  people  good  by  legisla- 
tion alone."  But  legislation  has  great  power  to  help  or  to 
hinder  the  aspirant  to  goodness,  and  it  is  clearly  evident  that 
the  legislation  noted  above  does  help  some  people  to  be  good. 
Take  the  Employers'  Liability  Law,  for  example,  as  adminis- 
tered  by  the   State   Industrial    Accident    Board.     Ask   the 


Social  Betterment  137 

injured  workingman  if  it  has  not  helped  his  employer  to  be 
good,  and  ask  the  conscientious  humane  employer  if  its  provi- 
sions have  not  helped  him  to  do  the  good  he  wished  to  do  by 
compelling  even  his  callous  and  hard-hearted  competitor  to 
be  good  also. 

This  social  legislation  is  of  course  not  complete.  We  have 
by  no  means  reached  the  millennium.  A  commission  is  now 
at  work  investigating  the  problem  of  health  insurance  and 
doubtless  along  the  trail  blazed  by  accident  insurance  we  shall 
yet  move  forward  to  social  insurance  in  general  against  sick- 
ness, against  old  age,  and  against  unemployment. 

Coming  now  to  the  so-called  "  moral  issues "  such  as 
intemperance,  prostitution,  gambling,  it  is  encouraging  as 
we  look  back  over  fifty  years  to  reahze  that  here  too  the  tide 
is  rising. 

Take  gambling,  for  instance.  The  first  legislature  of  the 
state  of  California  passed  a  law  hcensing  gambhng  games  at 
from  ten  to  fifteen  dollars  a  table.  But  the  sixth  legislature, 
under  Governor  Bigler,  in  1855,  passed  a  law  prohibiting 
gambhng,  and  from  that  time  down  to  the  present  moment 
the  fight  has  been  on.  The  faro  table  was  superseded  by  the 
lottery,  and  the  lottery  by  the  race  track.  One  of  the  notable 
achievements  of  the  last  five  years  has  been  the  suppression 
of  race-track  gambling  by  an  overwhelming  popular  vote. 
Along  with  this  should  be  mentioned  the  suppression  of  prize 
fighting,  not  merely  because  of  its  brutality  but  because  of 
the  crooked  gambling  feature  in  it,  —  this  also  by  a  large 
popular  vote  and  almost  without  any  agitation  or  campaign- 
ing in  its  behalf.  David  Belasco  said  to  a  reporter  in  New 
York,  when  he  learned  after  the  earthquake  and  fire  that  San 
Francisco  would  rebuild  on  the  old  site,  "  The  Calif ornians 
are  bully  gamblers."  It  was  meant  as  a  comphment,  but 
judging  from  the  disappearance  of  slot  machines,  and  prize 
fights  and  race  tracks,  we  Cahf ornians  are  not  such  "  bully 
gamblers  "  as  we  were  ten  years  ago,  Mr.  Belasco! 


138        Religious  Progress  on  the  Pacific  Slope 

In  the  matter  of  public  opinion  about  prostitution  the  tide 
is  also  rising.  I  can  remember  Los  Angeles  in  the  early 
eighties.  As  a  small  boy  I  used  to  hear  my  father  and  mother 
commenting  on  certain  streets  through  which  we  rode  on  our 
way  to  our  country  home.  I  noticed  the  names  painted  on 
the  doors  of  the  long,  low  adobe  houses.  I  knew  that  through 
the  half-closed  blinds  women  were  looking  and  sometimes 
leaning  out  of  the  windows.  In  the  happy  innocence  of  boy- 
hood I  knew  no  more,  but  now  I  realize  how  openly  prostitu- 
tion existed  on  some  of  the  most  travelled  streets  of  Los 
Angeles.  Then  there  came  a  change.  In  the  nineties  prosti- 
tution was  segregated  —  herded  down  on  Alameda  Street. 
Even  now,  if  you  know  what  to  look  for,  you  can  see  from  your 
car  window  as  you  enter  Los  Angeles  the  curious  little  brick 
rooms,  "  cribs,"  they  were  called,  built  in  alleys;  scores,  yes, 
hundreds  of  them.  They  are  empty  now  or  used  for  other 
purposes  than  their  original  design. 

I  remember  Santa  Barbara  as  a  high-school  boy  in  the 
nineties.  Houses  of  prostitution  existed  within  a  block  of  the 
main  street  on  either  side,  clearly  marked  by  signs,  red  tran- 
soms, brilUant  red  lights  at  night,  women  lounging  behind  the 
latticed  porches.  One  such  resort  existed  diagonally  across 
the  street  from  the  home  where  two  of  the  brightest  and  best 
girls  in  the  high  school  lived.  Every  boy  in  town  knew  all 
about  these  houses.  From  the  clerks  in  my  father's  store, 
some  of  whom  associated  with  them  brazenly,  I  learned  to 
know  the  names  of  many  of  these  women  and  who  the  princi- 
pal customers  of  certain  houses  were. 

Society  has  not  yet  solved  the  problem  of  the  social  evil, 
but  public  opinion  concerning  it  is  certainly  higher  than  it 
used  to  be.  I  visited  Santa  Barbara  this  summer  and  noticed 
the  old  familiar  houses.  They  were  not  in  operation  any 
longer.  Nor  could  I  by  any  outward  visible  sign  detect  the 
presence  of  their  successors.  Nor  would  any  town  in  Cali- 
fornia, outside  of  possibly  a  half  dozen  which  imitate  San 


Social  Betterment  139 

Francisco  with  its  Barbary  Coast,  tolerate  such  conditions  as 
were  a  commonplace  in  the  California  towns  of  my  boyhood. 
The  "  red-light  abatement  law  "  was  carried  and  in  large 
areas  of  California  it  is  being  enforced,  and  even  now  the 
fight  is  on  to  secure  its  enforcement  in  San  Francisco. 

And  now  in  regard  to  the  liquor  traffic.  In  no  state  has 
liquor  ever  had  a  stronger  hold  than  in  California.  In  the 
days  of  the  Spanish  control  California  suffered  sadly  from  this 
evil,  though  an  occasional  vigorous  governor  like  Diego 
Borica  attempted  to  repress  it,  but  in  the  feverish  excitement 
of  the  gold  diggings  liquor  was  well  nigh  universal  and  the 
saloon  the  great  social  center  of  the  community. 

The  first  strong  protest  against  the  liquor  traffic  came  in 
1855,  when  petitions  cameup  to  the  legislature  from  El  Dorado, 
Tuolumne  and  Santa  Cruz  counties  praying  the  legislature  to 
pass  a  prohibition  law.  The  legislature  did  so;  it  passed  a 
law  prohibiting  the  sale  of  liquor  within  two  miles  of  a  State 
prison!  The  larger  question  of  general  prohibition  the  legisla- 
ture put  up  to  the  people,  and  in  1855,  sixty-one  years  ago, 
California  voted  on  the  subject  —  and  went  "  wet  "  by 
5,362  votes!  The  mining  countries  voted  "  dry,"  but  the 
cities  went  "  wet."  Again  in  1873  a  strong  effort  was  made 
to  curb  the  liquor  traffic.  "  In  its  two  sessions  the  legislature 
of  that  year  passed  seven  anti-liquor  laws,  and  Governor 
Booth,  although  engaged  in  the  wholesale  liquor  business, 
signed  every  one  of  them.  All  honor  to  him!  The  laws  were 
aimed  directly  at  the  liquor  traffic.  Three  of  them  made  it  a 
criminal  offence  to  sell  liquor  to  minors  under  sixteen  years 
of  age,  within  two  miles  of  the  State  University  or  within  one 
mile  of  the  Napa  Asylum.  They  declared  that  no  saloon- 
keeper could  collect  a  liquor  debt  over  S5.00  in  amount. 
They  prohibited  the  selling  of  liquor  on  election  days  during 
the  voting  hours.  Then,  to  feel  the  public  pulse  on  the  tem- 
perance question,  on  March  18,  1874,  they  passed  the  '  local 
option  and  damage  bill,'  but  the  legislature  found  that  they 


140        Religious  Progress  on  the  Pacific  Slope 

were  nearly  fifty  years  ahead  of  public  sentiment^  for  not 
only  the  Supreme  Court  but  the  people  "  sat  down  upon  it  " 
heavily.  Wherever  a  local  option  election  was  held,  whiskey 
came  out  ahead.  Defeated  in  Alameda  County  by  the  close 
vote  of  2,382  to  2,331,  the  temperance  people  carried  the  case 
to  the  Supreme  Court,  which  declared  the  law  "  unconstitu- 
tional." 

In  Tinkham's  "  California  Men  and  Events,"  from  which 
I  have  quoted  this  information  about  the  anti-liquor  laws  of 
1873,  occurs  this  interesting  footnote  (page  223) :  "  A  saloon 
has  been  near  every  California  State  Capitol,  and  in  the  second 
legislature  many  of  the  members  became  beastly  drunk  even 
during  session  hours.  At  Vallejo  the  saloon  was  too  far  dis- 
tant and  a  new  saloon  was  opened  directly  opposite  the 
capitol.  At  Sacramento  the  saloon  was  too  far  distant  and 
in  1871,  the  governor  being  a  wholesale  liquor  dealer,  they 
opened  a  '  well '  in  the  basement  of  the  capitol.  That 
'  well '  continued  to  flow  until  1893,  notwithstanding  the 
fact  that  in  1880  they  passed  a  law  prohibiting  the  sale  of 
liquor  upon  the  capitol  grounds  or  within  a  mile  of  the  build- 
ing. The  legislators  of  1886  and  1890  disgraced  themselves 
and  the  state  by  their  drunken  carousals  and  licentious  acts 
with  women  clerks.  When  the  attention  of  the  legislature 
of  1890  was  called  to  their  violation  of  law,  morality  and 
decency,  the  Senate  refused  to  even  take  action  on  the  resolu- 
tion. In  the  session  of  1893,  the  '  well '  was  again  opened  as 
usual  but  Assemblyman  Bledsoe  of  Sonoma  succeeded  in 
having  the  infamy  closed." 

But  though  the  local  option  law  of  1873  failed,  later  laws 
have  held  and  community  after  community  has  gone  dry, 
until  today  Southern  California  and  a  large  part  of  the  central 
valleys  are  almost  clear  of  the  saloon.  Prohibition  was  voted 
down  in  1914,  when  a  law  so  drastic  and  extreme  that  many 
anti-liquor  people  could  not  support  it  was  defeated  by  some 
180,000  votes.     This  year  the  issue  comes  before  the  people 


Social  Betterment  141 

under  more  favorable  conditions.  Two  amendments  are 
proposed  —  one  enacting  total  prohibition  of  both  manufac- 
ture and  sale  but  not  going  into  effect  until  1920  —  thereby- 
giving  those  with  money  invested  in  breweries  and  vineyards 
some  chance  to  dispose  of  their  holdings  or  start  new  crops  in 
their  vineyards.  The  second  amendment  forbids  simply  the 
retail  sale  of  liquor,  thereby  leaving  the  wine  industry  practi- 
cally untouched,  inasmuch  as  95  per  cent,  of  the  wine  produced 
in  California  is  sold  outside  the  state.  This  law  does  not  go 
into  effect  until  1918,  so  as  to  give  the  saloon-keeper  a  chance 
to  close  out  his  business  and  learn  another  trade. 

Whether  this  election  goes  "  wet  "  or  "  dry,"  and  how 
effectively  a  prohibition  law  once  adopted  can  be  enforced  — 
this  is  not  for  me  to  record  —  it  will  be  part  of  the  very  in- 
teresting paper  which  my  successor  fifty  years  from  today 
shall  read  at  the  Centennial  Celebration  of  the  Pacific  School 
of  Rehgion  on  "  Social  Betterment  in  California  from  1916 
to  1966." 

But  the  problem  of  public  morals  is  not  entirely  a  problem 
of  the  suppression  of  evil.  One  very  hopeful  thing  about  the 
modern  point  of  view  is  that  it  is  becoming  more  positive  and 
less  exclusively  negative.  We  are  learning  the  importance  of 
overcoming  evil  with  good.  And  so  it  is  most  encouraging  in 
the  line  of  social  betterment  to  note  in  recent  years  the  de- 
velopment of  great  movements  designed  to  give  people  some- 
thing better  than  vice,  gambhng  and  hquor  with  which  to 
occupy  their  leisure  time.  Recent  years  have  seen  the 
development  of  pubhc  libraries,  the  utilization  of  schools  and 
in  some  instances  of  churches  as  social  centers,  the  inaugura- 
tion of  night  schools  and  free  pubhc  lectures  of  educational 
value.  The  saloon  has  found  a  commercial  competitor  in  the 
humble  and  democratic  picture  show,  and  the  automobile  has 
given  a  new  motive  for  saving  money.  The  Sierra  Club  and 
the  Federal  Government  are  turning  the  attention  of  men  and 
women  to  the  mountains  as  Cahfornia's  great  natural  play- 


142        Religious  Progress  on  the  Pacific  Slope 

ground,  while  every  city  of  any  size  now  has  a  system  of 
playgrounds  for  boys  and  girls  out  of  which  shall  yet  grow  a 
great  system  of  evening  social  centers  for  young  men  and 
women. 

The  last  few  years  have  witnessed  a  notable  awakening  in 
the  direction  of  prison  reform  and  a  new  day  of  humanity 
and  scientific  care  for  the  social  offender  is  surely  just  at  hand. 
On  my  desk  as  I  write  is  the  State  Housing  and  Immigration 
Commission  report,  indicating  that  better  and  more  brotherly 
treatment  awaits  the  alien  in  the  days  that  lie  ahead.  Voca- 
tional training  is  developing  in  our  public  schools  and  educa- 
tion is  growing  more  practical,  closer  to  the  lives  of  the  people. 
In  every  community  troops  of  boy  scouts  are  teaching  boys 
ideals  of  courage,  kindness,  wood-craft,  chivalry  and  self- 
control.  Despite  all  our  problems  and  our  too  obvious 
evils  and  injustices,  the  cause  of  social  betterment  goes  on 
apace.  Cities  never  before  were  so  clean  or  so  sanitary  or 
had  such  visions  of  the  city  beautiful.  Only  one  dread 
shadow  hes  across  the  land  —  the  menace  of  the  world  war, 
the  peril  that  we  shall  be  dragged  into  this  war  or  some  subse- 
quent war,  and  the  onward  progress  of  social  betterment 
checked.  Now  we  are  fighting  real  foes  —  ignorance,  vice, 
disease,  poverty.  What  a  tragedy  if  we  should  ever  have  to 
cease  this  battle  for  social  betterment  to  go  and  waste  our 
energies  fighting  other  men  who  ought  instead  to  be  our  allies 
fighting  the  real  foes  of  all  the  human  race! 

To  those  of  us  who  see  all  this,  who  reahze  the  seriousness 
and  magnitude  of  the  social  problem  and  who  are  nevertheless 
heartened  and  encouraged  by  the  progress  being  made,  there 
is  one  other  great  fact  in  the  social  awakening  of  the  past  fifty 
years  which  is  especially  significant  —  the  re-discovery  of  the 
social  gospel  by  the  church.  The  old  conception  of  salva- 
tion, as  a  matter  of  saving  individuals  one  by  one  for  a  heaven 
hereafter,  is  steadily  being  enlarged  and  ampUfied  to  include 
social  salvation,  the  building  of  the  better  social  order  of  the 


Social  Betterment  143 

Kingdom  of  Heaven  here  on  earth.  Of  course  the  church  has 
always  had  an  influence  on  social  problems,  even  when  pro- 
fessing to  be  concerned  with  the  individual  soul  alone,  but 
now  this  influence  is  to  be  definite,  conscious,  constructive. 
Books  and  sermons  and  courses  of  study  on  the  Social  Teach- 
ings of  Jesus  and  the  Social  Mission  of  the  Church  permeate 
all  denominations  today.  Foreign  Missions  have  blazed  a 
trail  of  practical  social  service  in  non-Christian  lands  and 
the  church  at  home  cannot  be  indifferent  to  social  problems 
at  her  door.  The  social  gospel  is  in  part  a  rather  unexpected 
reaction  from  the  foreign  missionary  movement.  Out  of  a 
movement  which  began  as  pure  individuaUsm  has  come,  both 
for  itself  and  for  the  churches  at  home,  a  social  vision. 

The  influence  of  the  church  in  arousing  the  conscience  of 
the  community  on  social  wrongs  is  only  just  beginning. 
Until  now  it  has  been  largely  concentrated  on  the  liquor 
problem,  but  it  is  destined  to  go  on  to  the  championing  of 
human  values  in  every  department  of  Kfe,  in  the  spirit  of  the 
Master  who  "  came  to  seek  and  to  save  that  which  was  lost  " 
and  who  "  went  about  doing  good." 

To  the  author  of  that  paper  fifty  years  from  now  I  can  only 
say  that  while  we  have  made  some  progress  in  our  half  of  the 
century,  we  have  left  a  lot  of  interesting  things  uncompleted 
which  may  well  keep  the  next  fifty  years  fairly  well  employed. 

Some  of  the  achievements  in  the  realm  of  social  betterment 
which  we  feel  the  need  of  and  for  which  we  hope,  in  our  more 
optimistic  moods,  the  accomphshment  of  which  we  trust  his 
readier  pen  shall  at  last  record  in  that  far-off  October  morning 
in  1966,  are: 

(1)  The  rise  of  a  full  generation  of  men  and  women  who 
have  never  seen  a  saloon,  or  known  the  taste  of  liquor. 

(2)  The  achievement  of  a  single  standard  of  morality  so 
that  prostitution  shall  seem  as  remote  to  the  people  of  1966 
as  dueling  seems  to  us. 

(3)  A  complete  system,  of  pubKc  recreation  superseding  the 


144        Religious  Progress  on  the  Pacific  Slope 

commercialized  and  often  harmful  amusement  life  of  today  — 
great  games  and  pageants  and  amateur  plays,  together  with 
great  public  parks,  recreation  centers,  buildings  for  bowling, 
pool  and  billiards,  gymnasia,  and  swimming  pools. 

(4)  Progress  toward  industrial  democracy,  with  employers 
and  employees  bound  into  co-operation  by  great  systems  of 
social  insurance,  profit  sharing  and  democratic  industrial 
control. 

(5)  Cities  beautiful,  sanitary,  convenient  because  scientifi- 
cally planned,  with  adequate  schools,  parks,  factories,  stores, 
homes  and  transportation  facilities. 

(6)  A  new  penology  with  farms,  instead  of  prisons,  the 
indeterminate  sentence,  and  reformation,  not  revenge,  the 
goal  —  the  prison  an  efficient  hospital  for  moral  diseases. 

(7)  A  World-State  wherein  the  present  war  shall  seem  as 
far  in  the  past  and  as  impossible  of  recurrence  as  the  Civil 
War  of  our  own  country,  which  had  just  closed  fifty  years  ago, 
seems  to  us  today. 

It  is  a  large  and  interesting  program  of  social  betterment,  — 
is  it  not?  What  fun  it  will  be  for  me,  an  old  man  then  of 
eighty-seven,  a  little  deaf  probably,  a  httle  doubtful  about 
the  newfangled  social  doctrines  of  the  youngsters  who  are 
teaching  in  the  Pacific  School  of  Rehgion,  what  fun  for  me,  I 
say,  to  come  back  and  sit  in  the  front  row  and  listen  to  the 
paper  on  Social  Betterment  from  1916  to  1966!  Really  I 
believe  I  will  plan  to  be  there! 


Chapter  VIII 

RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION 

The  Rev.  Miles  Bull  Fisher,  D.D. 

Pacific  Coast  Education  Secretary,  Congregational  Sunday-School  and  Pub- 
lishing Society,  and  Instructor  in  Religious  Education,  Pacific  School 
of  Religion. 

Religious  Education  for  our  purposes  is  to  be  construed 
narrowly,  as  distinct  from  college  work,  seminary  work,  and 
the  traditional  church  work.  Specifically,  our  subject  refers 
to  Sunday-school  and  young  people's  work  which  has  an 
education  ideal. 

In  reviewing  the  past  and  projecting  the  new  there  is  a 
regrettable  disposition  to  be  unduly  critical,  even  disdainful, 
of  days  gone.  It  is  easy  to  caricature  the  old,  but  it  is  neither 
fair  nor  profitable.  The  work  was  good  enough  at  least  to 
have  prepared  the  way  for  this  more  fruitful  epoch.  No  age 
is  to  be  judged  by  its  uncouthness,  but  by  its  fidehty.  Our 
solicitude  must  always  be  faithfulness  to  the  light,  that  new 
Kght  may  break  forth.  A  new  term  never  comes  in  evolution 
except  the  prior  term  has  been  made  to  yield  its  contribution. 
If  we  have  reason  for  gratulation  it  is  because  the  age  just 
gone  did  so  well.  The  way  to  facihtate  our  evolution  is  to 
exploit  to  the  utmost  the  genius  of  our  own  age. 

In  the  former  age  psychology  was  based  largely  upon  in- 
trospection. It  was  descriptive;  the  mind  was  divided  into 
faculties.  What  the  student  of  psychology  found  in  his  own 
mind  by  way  of  powers  and  processes,  he  described.  The 
mind  so  described  was  reckoned  the  mind  of  the  human. 
All  humans  were  that  way;  the  child  was  a  human  and  had 
all  of  the  same  powers  in  greater  or  less  degree.  What  things 
were  good  for  men  should  be  good  for  children;  subjects 
interesting  to  men  were  normal  for  children.     With  no  ap- 

145 


146        Religious  Progress  on  the  Pacific  Slope 

preciation  of  the  individual,  little  wonder  that  the  subject  be- 
came engrossing  to  the  teacher,  rather  than  the  child.  Not- 
withstanding the  wiser  teaching  of  Comenius,  of  Rousseau, 
and  of  Froebel,  prevailing  principles  were  unenlightened, 
particularly  in  religious  education.  A  new  day  came  with  the 
observational  study  of  genetic  psychology,  the  study  of  the 
mind's  becoming.  Categories  and  charts  and  tests  for  ob- 
serving and  recording  the  facts  of  an  individual  mind  were 
devised.  Perhaps  a  thousand  six-year-olds  were  tested  in 
the  aggregate,  till  a  six-year-old  was  really  well  known  in 
his  powers  of  imagination,  memory,  will,  his  interests  and 
social  proclivities.  Thus  every  age  was  studied  till  the 
depths,  shallows,  dangers  and  tidal  movements  in  the  un- 
folding hfe  of  the  child  were  charted.  The  method  was  revolu- 
tionary, the  results  epoch-making.  The  new  psychology 
was  followed  by  the  new  pedagogy,  chiefly  in  the  last  quarter 
of  last  century  and  early  years  of  this.  Religion  as  taught 
in  the  church  was  the  last  realm  to  feel  the  new  impulse. 
There  are  reasons  for  the  church's  conservatism  which  we 
have  no  time  to  review.  On  the  whole,  her  conservatism 
is  a  valuable  characteristic.  So  we  say,  and  mean  it,  but  it  is 
hard  to  bear  patiently  with  obstructionists  in  a  path  so  clear 
and  reasonable  as  religious  education. 

In  the  narrower  sense,  the  history  of  religious  education  upon 
the  Pacific  Coast  cannot  be  written  for  longer  than  perhaps 
ten  years.  Only  eight  years  ago  the  International  Sunday 
School  Association  authorized  the  preparation  of  graded  les- 
sons. With  these  began  the  popularizing  of  ideals  of  Sunday- 
school  work  which  were  of  great  value.  Formerly  Sunday 
schools  were  looked  upon  as  agents  to  preempt  new  territory 
for  denominational  propaganda,  as  a  means  of  so  indoctrinat- 
ing and  biasing  the  children  as  to  make  them  inhospitable  to 
any  other  brand  of  piety,  as  a  means  of  providing  recruits 
for  the  local  church,  as  an  agency  among  children  for  insuring 
the  soul's  salvation.     With  the  era  of  graded  lessons,  ideals 


Religious  Education  147 

more  adequate  than  any  of  these  were  Hfted  up.  The  Sun- 
day school  was  set  forth  as  the  church  at  work  teaching  and 
training,  to  the  end  that  boys  and  girls  might  realize  their 
full  development  in  religion  and  conduct  —  gladly  aware  of 
God,  intelhgent  of  the  history  and  content  of  rehgion,  prac- 
ticed in  the  Christian  behavior  which  marks  one  as  both  good 
and  useful. 

The  center  of  attention,  the  regulative  factor  in  the  new 
work,  is  the  child.  Nothing  has  value  that  has  no  value  for 
the  child  —  neither  the  church,  nor  the  Bible,  nor  the  ark  of 
safety,  nor  statistics,  nor  "  success."  The  approach  is  by 
way  of  the  child.  What  manner  of  creature  is  he?  What  are 
his  instincts?  In  what  sequence  do  they  appear?  What 
are  his  appetencies,  his  social  interests?  What  are  his  re- 
actions to  given  material  and  method?  What  does  he  hke 
to  do?  These  findings  determine  the  material  and  method  by 
which  rehgious  education  is  carried  forward.  It  was  once 
taught  that  meat  was  good  for  men,  milk  for  babes;  but  men, 
very  sure  that  meat  was  good,  strong  food,  minced  it  into 
words  of  one  syllable,  mixed  it  with  water,  and  fed  it  to  babes 
as  milk. 

In  Denver,  at  the  1902  Convention  of  the  International 
Sunday  School  Association,  the  matter  of  graded  lessons  was 
for  the  first  time  permitted  to  figure  in  the  discussions.  Two 
objections  to  the  plan  appeared:  First,  the  cost  of  so  great 
an  output  of  new  literature  in  addition  to  the  continued  stream 
of  uniform  lessons;  second,  the  underlying  assumption  of  the 
proponents  that,  for  teaching,  some  scriptures  are  better 
than  others.  The  antis  felt  the  latter  impUcation  intolerable; 
for  if  some  scriptures  are  better  than  others,  others  must  be 
worse  than  some,  —  which  was  sacrilege.  The  proposition 
was  defeated,  except  that  Beginners'  lessons  were  authorized, 
with  the  proviso  that  when  issued  they  should  not  bear  the 
imprimatur  of  the  Association  [sic].  The  Rehgious  Educa- 
tion Association,  born  the  same  year,  started  a  lively  propa- 


148        Religious  Progress  on  the  Pacific  Slope 

ganda  to  infuse  religious  teaching  with  the  educational  ideal. 
Three  years  later  the  Convention  of  the  Sunday  School  As- 
sociation held  in  Toronto,  went  so  far,  under  stress,  as  to 
authorize  senior  graded  lessons,  in  addition  to  those  for  the 
beginners.  This  was  no  practical  gain,  though  perhaps  a 
moral  one.  In  1908,  after  six  years  activity  of  the  Religious 
Education  Association,  and  statesman-like  personal  work  by 
Pres.  W.  N.  Hartshorn  in  particular,  the  Louisville  Conven- 
tion, without  opposing  vote,  authorized  the  graded  lesson 
system  complete. 

A  general  Sunday  School  advance  waited  upon  this  action. 
Teacher  training  being  practicable  without  concerted  action 
(unlike  preparation  of  lesson  courses),  some  development  of 
the  teachers'  meeting  and  normal  class  had  already  appeared 
under  the  name  of  teacher  training.  But  now,  being  founded 
upon  the  new  psychology,  the  new  teacher  training  was  in  an 
inhospitable  atmosphere  wherever  uniform  lessons  were 
used,  for  they  were  confessedly  prepared  in  disregard  of  the 
psychology  underlying  the  new  training.  Not  until  graded 
lessons  came,  therefore,  in  1908,  confessing  their  debt  to 
modern  psychology,  did  teacher  training  have  its  opportunity. 
Since  that  date,  eight  years  ago,  graded  lessons  and  teacher 
training  have  gone  hand  in  hand  as  practical  stress  points  in 
all  Sunday-school  work.  Since  that  signal  year,  the  history 
of  religious  education,  as  we  are  viewing  it,  has  been  gradually 
unfolding.  Since  that  date  all  the  denominational  secretaries 
of  religious  education  (I  have  known  nine  of  them)  have 
appeared  upon  the  Coast.  Beginning  the  same  year,  1908,  the 
annual  reports  sent  by  its  district  secretaries  to  the  Interna- 
tional Sunday  School  Association  have  grown  until  at  the 
present  time  they  must  answer  sixty-six  questions,  instead  of 
forty-six,  —  the  additions  being  chiefly  concerned  with  the 
educational  aspects  of  the  schools,  grading,  lessons,  teacher 
training  and  institutes. 

Since  1910  the  Baptists  have  had  an  educational  specialist 


Religious  Education  149 

on  the  Coast,  and  since  1914  a  second.  In  the  same  period  the 
Methodists  have  had  one  for  two  years,  the  Presbyterians  one 
for  the  entire  period  and  one  for  four  years,  the  Disciples  have 
had  one  for  five  years,  the  Episcopahans  one  for  two  years 
(whose  time,  however,  is  divided),  the  Congregationahsts 
one  for  the  entire  period  and  a  second  man,  of  marked  educa- 
tional abihty,  though  without  the  title  of  Educational  Secre- 
tary. These  men  have  promoted  rehgious  education,  particu- 
larly among  their  own  churches  and  schools.  The  spirit  of 
co-operation  has  been  better  exhibited  among  these  also 
than  among  any  other  denominational  agents  of  my  knowl- 
edge. These  secretaries  have  organized  the  California  Sun- 
day School  Council  to  help  each  other  in  fellowship  of  ideals 
and  of  methods  of  work,  and  by  co-operating  in  the  conduct  of 
joint  institutes  of  religious  education.  A  similar  council 
was  organized  in  the  Northwest,  including  all  men  employed 
in  Sunday-school  work.  We  have  held  many  institutes  to- 
gether from  year  to  year,  with  abundance  of  good  will,  growing 
mutual  respect,  and  good  educational  results.  The  secre- 
taries of  the  Northwest  Council  have  together  (sometimes 
with  the  co-operation  of  the  secretary  of  the  International 
Sunday  School  Association)  carried  through  a  series  of  in- 
stitutes in  the  Puget  Sound  country,  one  in  the  Inland  Em- 
pire, another  in  the  territory  along  the  Columbia  River, 
another  in  the  Willamette  Valley,  and  one  among  the  colleges 
and  college  towns  of  Oregon. 

Statistics  have  been  sought  in  the  preparation  of  this  paper, 
in  order  to  make  a  somewhat  expHcit  showing  of  educational 
gains.  The  facts  most  available  —  and  also  most  significant 
—  concern  the  use  of  graded  lessons  and  the  provision  for 
teacher  training.  No  one  can  be  more  aware  than  the  writer 
how  variable  is  the  weight  to  be  allowed  to  the  several  returns, 
but  notwithstanding  this  discount  the  figures  will  have 
meaning  and  value. 

In  Western  Washington  progress  in  the  use  of  graded  les- 


150        Religious  Progress  on  the  Pacific  Slope 

sons  appears  in  these  figures:  In  1912,  38%  of  schools  em- 
ployed graded  lessons;  in  1913,  48%;  1914,  40%;  1915,  39%; 
1916,  45%.  The  weakness  of  these  figures  is  their  failure  to 
indicate  how  widely  throughout  each  school  graded  lessons  were 
used.  It  may  be  assumed,  however,  that  the  school  that 
begins  the  innovation  usually  employs  the  better  lessons  for 
all  children  up  to  twelve  years  of  age. 

In  Northern  Cahfornia,  in  1910,  40%  of  the  schools  reported 
use  of  graded  lessons;  in  1911,  35%;  in  1912,  43%;  in  1914, 
50%.  Records  of  other  Coast  states  are  too  meager  for  use. 
Baptist  reports  of  the  current  year  for  Oregon,  Idaho,  Nevada 
and  Utah  show  graded  lessons  used  in  at  least  three  depart- 
ments (probably  the  Beginners',  Primary  and  Junior  Depart- 
ments, i.e.,  up  to  twelve  years  of  age)  by  49%  of  the  schools. 

Congregational  statistics  from  one  hundred  and  thirty 
typical  churches  in  the  Coast  states  show  that  in  1911,  70% 
used  graded  lessons;  in  1913,  80%  used  them  in  at  least  three 
departments;  while  in  this  current  year,  75%  used  graded 
lessons  in  at  least  three  departments.  It  is  a  bit  disappointing 
that  there  should  seem  to  be  a  5%  loss  in  the  last  three  years. 
If  this  be  the  fact  it  points  the  need  of  repeated  explanation 
and  commendation  of  the  newer  type  of  lessons.  Experience 
shows  that  the  second  year  of  their  use  is  almost  as  problemati- 
cal as  their  original  introduction  into  a  school.  Many  high 
hopes  of  a  panacea  have  fallen  during  the  year;  the  new  les- 
sons, with  an  explicit  printed  aim  for  each  lesson,  have  dis- 
turbed the  teacher's  former  comfortable  use  of  homily  and 
platitude.  Moreover,  makeshifts  are  not  so  easy  in  case  of 
absent  teachers.  Unless,  therefore,  the  attention  is  kept 
fixedly  upon  the  child  and  his  needs  and  definite  efforts  are 
made  to  conform  everything  else  to  this  regulative  ideal,  dis- 
appointment is  likely  to  ensue.  Figures  are  not  available  to 
show  the  growth  of  the  same  movement  among  Presbyterian 
and  Methodist  schools,  but  I  recall  Dr.  McFarland's  testimony 
that  the  early  demand  for  graded  lessons  among  the  Methodists 


Religious  Education  151 

was  five  times  the  expected  number.  Tlie  enei'gy  of  tlie 
Presbyterians  in  pushing  graded  lessons  is  matter  of  common 
knowledge,  especially  their  own  "  modified  "  graded  lessons. 

Graded  lessons  and  teacher  training  have  been  associated 
in  their  introduction.  Their  relation  is  vital.  The  explicit- 
ness  of  aim  in  each  graded  lesson  almost  compels  the  teacher 
to  do  skilful  work,  involving  study  of  the  pupil  and  of  the  art 
of  teaching.  On  the  other  hand,  if  one  be  a  skilful  teacher, 
nothing  less  than  adapted  (i.e.,  graded)  lessons  will  at  all 
suffice.  The  uniform  lessons  are  so  at  variance  from  good 
practice  in  every  other  direction  as  not  to  be  tolerated  by  the 
trained  teacher.  We  are  fortunate  in  having  the  work  of  the 
curriculum  so  well  done  by  several  hands.  The  outhne  of  a 
Bible  School  curriculum  by  the  late  Professor  George  Pease 
is  the  best  curriculum  outline  prepared  upon  any  subject  to 
date.  (This  upon  authority  of  a  University  professor  of  the 
department  of  education.)  With  scientifically  prepared  les- 
sons great  impulse  has  been  given  teacher  training;  just  as  a 
new  and  useful  invention,  hke  wireless,  brings  apprentices 
flocking.  There  are  ten  or  a  dozen  courses  in  teacher  training 
current,  dotting  the  calendar  since  the  date  of  Hurlburt's 
first  Manual  for  the  Normal  Class.  The  courses  vary  widely 
in  value.  Some  are  but  manuals  of  grouped  memory  material 
and  rule  of  thumb  maxims  about  teaching.  At  the  other 
extreme  we  have  books  which  are  themselves  ensamples  of 
the  art  they  seek  to  teach. 

Statistics  show  that  in  Southern  Cahfornia  7§%  of  all 
schools  had  teacher-training  classes  in  1907,  and  for  later 
years,  at  intervals,  5|,  6|  and  7%.  In  Northern  California 
21%  had  such  classes  in  1907,  and  7^,  10,  7|  and  12^%  at 
intervals  since.  The  reason  for  this  low  figure  is  somewhat 
apparent  when  we  note  denominational  figures  for  teacher- 
training  classes.  When  classes  recognize  denominational 
attachment  they  are  often  indifferent  whether  the  Sunday 
School  Association  (interdenominational)  has  any  report  of 


152        Religious  Progress  on  the  Pacific  Slope 

that  fact.  Yet  it  is  certainly  worth  while  to  take  pains  to 
report  all  the  facts  to  such  a  central  office. 

In  the  Northwest  the  Baptist  figures  show  the  following 
growth:  In  1912,  18%  of  the  schools  had  teacher  training; 
in  1914,  22%,  and  in  1916,  29%.  The  Congregational  re- 
ports, from  one  hundred  and  thirty  typical  schools  on  the 
Coast,  reveal  teacher-training  classes  in  the  following  ratios: 
1911,  25%;  1913,  41%; ;  1915,  33%;  1916,  49%.  If  in  this 
year's  figures  we  include  one-half  only  of  such  schools  as 
hope  or  expect  to  start  teacher-training  classes  this  fall,  the 
percentage  will  rise  to  53%,  —  a  showing  full  of  promise. 
While  no  figures  are  available  for  other  communions,  the 
Presbyterians  may  be  mentioned  as  doing  excellent  work  in 
certain  districts.  In  Tacoma  the  First  Presbyterian  Church 
has  graduated  nearly  one  hundred  from  the  First  Standard 
Course,  has  an  alumni  association,  and  reports  that  nearly  all 
its  force  has  been  trained  and  that  no  person  is  placed  in 
regular  control  of  a  class  who  has  not  had  the  equal  of  this 
training.  The  church  at  Baker,  Oregon,  has  graduated  about 
fifty  from  the  first  and  advanced  courses.  The  Sunday-school 
teachers  of  First  Church  of  the  Disciples  of  Christ  of  Portland 
voted  that  on  and  after  Jan.  1st,  1915,  no  teacher  should  be 
considered  eligible  who  had  not  a  diploma  for  at  least  a  first 
standard  course.  This  terminal  date  gave  them  two  years 
to  qualify.  They  had  placards  in  conspicuous  places  an- 
nouncing their  action,  designed  to  spur  themselves  and  to 
acquaint  their  church  public  with  their  worthy  purpose.  The 
morale  of  the  force  improved  immediately,  and  the  skill  of  the 
teachers  in  due  time.  As  a  result  the  school  grew  notably  in 
efficiency  and  in  numbers,  —  the  public  rating  high  the  work 
which  the  teachers  had  rated  high. 

The  modern  movement,  then,  is  but  about  eight  years  old. 
Theretofore  there  was  agitation  and  the  setting  of  guide-posts. 
Only  after  graded  lessons  and  a  body  of  usable  literature  on 
teacher  training  had  issued  was  a  movement  possible.     That  so 


Religious  Education  153 

much  has  been  accompHshed  in  creating  wholesome  dis- 
content, high  resolve,  and  actual  endeavor  is  reason  for  thanks- 
giving and  courage.  Pubhc  opinion  is  hard  to  change  if  the 
proposal  is  not  susceptible  of  physical  demonstration.  The 
present  movement  had  negative  demonstration,  inasmuch 
as  the  old  order  of  teaching  failed  woefully  of  adequate  result. 
The  positive  demonstration  is  only  now  being  dehvered  in 
young  Christians  confessedly  better  instructed  and  better 
trained,  and  that  in  numbers  far  beyond  the  yield  under 
older  methods  of  culture.  The  new  system  had  been  in  use 
but  a  few  years  when  the  District  Secretaries  of  the  Interna- 
tional Sunday  School  Association,  after  collating  their  figures, 
concluded  that  the  graded  lessons  were  calculated  to  lead  to 
discipleship  in  numbers  not  less  than  three  times  as  high  as 
under  uniform  lessons.  As  over  against  any  discount  which 
the  conservative  may  wish  to  make  of  this  figure,  it  must  be 
borne  in  mind  that  with  the  longer  use  of  graded  lessons  by 
trained  teachers  the  ratio  is  hkely  to  go  higher. 

Occasionally  we  confront  impatience  of  the  whole  business 
of  scientific  teaching  of  rehgion  on  the  part  of  objectors. 
Their  stress  is  upon  love  and  example  and  rehance  upon  the 
Holy  Spirit.  The  objection  is  not  without  color  of  merit. 
One  recalls  that  Rome's  days  of  greatest  forth-putting  and 
power  were  before  the  epoch  of  the  schools  and  that  she  was 
sinking  when  her  schools  most  flourished.  As  between  an 
institution  and  a  person  no  one  would  hesitate,  nor  as  between 
rule  of  thumb  and  wholesome  contagion.  But  why  not  a 
wholesome  contagion  and  technical  quahfications?  Schools 
do  not  make  power;  personality  does.  Yet  when  personahty 
essays  to  teach,  teaching  must  be  well  done  or  personality 
itself  is  discounted.  Whether  to  have  schools  or  not,  is  not  a 
matter  of  debate.  The  school  is  a  datum  in  our  American 
life,  and  the  teacher,  too,  so  that  our  real  soHcitude  is  to  make 
the  teacher  skilful  enough  so  that  his  personahty  and  his 
wisdom  may  not  suffer  discount. 


154        Religious  Progress  on  the  Pacific  Slope 

The  training  of  teachers  must  be  undertaken  by  every 
church  for  its  own  constituency,  either  by  its  own  instruction 
or  in  union  with  others  in  some  community  class.  Every 
church  must  expect  to  have  to  do  this.  There  is  no  central 
supply.  Being  a  labor  of  love,  Sunday-school  teaching  can- 
not be  expected  at  too  heavy  cost  to  the  teacher;  training 
must  be  provided  which  is  at  once  convenient  and  inexpensive. 
When  all  our  churches  accept  this  view  of  the  case  there  will 
be  raised  a  new  and  more  competent  teaching  force.  And  the 
inevitable  removals  of  trained  teachers  will  not  impoverish 
the  church,  for  inevitable  removals  will  bring  teachers  simi- 
larly trained  by  other  churches.  Further,  I  plead  for  the 
formation  in  each  church  or  town  of  a  guild  of  Sunday-school 
teachers.  The  ancient  guilds  set  the  terms  of  apprenticeship, 
jealously  guarded  their  good  name,  saw  that  no  member 
lapsed  from  the  ethics  of  the  fraternity,  promoted  the  pros- 
perity of  the  guild.  Whether  it  be  called  an  alumni  associa- 
tion or  a  guild  or  whatever,  a  great  reinforcement  of  the  pro- 
gram of  efficiency  will  be  found  when  some  such  abiding  union 
is  formed.  Our  teachers  need  a  kind  of  professionaUsm  — 
not  commercialism,  but  professionahsm  —  by  which  I  mean 
a  blend  of  a  sense  of  a  high  calKng  and  of  preparedness. 
Dignity,  fidelity  and  efficiency  would  all  be  helped  by  this 
advance. 

The  Jews  have  been  remarkably  energetic  in  the  matter 
of  rehgious  education,  both  in  the  curriculum  and  in  teaching. 
The  way  has  been  well  led  by  the  liberal  Jews  of  New  York 
City.  In  San  Francisco,  Portland,  Seattle,  Sacramento  and 
Los  Angeles  modern  graded  lessons  are  used.  The  usual 
session  is  two  hours;  in  Beth-Israel,  Portland,  it  is  two  and 
one-half  hours.  The  women  teachers  in  Temple  Emanuel, 
San  Francisco,  are  all  public-school  teachers,  hence  well 
trained  and  professional  in  the  good  sense.  A  special  syna- 
gogue, separate  from  the  temple  of  worship,  is  provided  with 
assembly  room  and  ten  large  classrooms.     Each  of  fourteen 


Religious  Education  155 

classes  has  about  thirty  members.  Rabbi  Meyer  is  eclectic 
in  the  lessons.  Some  are  Jewish,  some  are  from  the  Interna- 
tional Graded  Series;  wherever  he  finds  what  promises  useful- 
ness he  makes  requisition.  Six  college-bred  young  men  have 
undertaken  to  teach  the  boys  in  Temple  Emanuel.  Teachers 
are  paid  $15.00  per  month;  those  who  teach  Hebrew  as  well 
as  Enghsh  receive  $25.00  per  month.  In  Portland  the 
physical  equipment  is  not  so  good  as  that  described  in  San 
Francisco,  yet  much  beyond  that  of  the  average  Christian 
church.  The  Portland  synagogue  is  a  good  demonstration  of 
efficient  refigious  education.  Teachers  are  paid  for  their 
services,  as  in  San  Francisco,  just  as  the  Rabbi  is  paid.  It 
is  worth  pay,  they  say,  and  they  have  to  pay  to  get  the  worth. 
The  president  of  the  society  has  exclaimed  warmly,  "If  we 
have  to  economize  anywhere,  it  will  not  be  on  the  teaching, 
but  on  the  Rabbi!  " 

I  have  been  interested  to  inquire  into  the  refigious  educa- 
tion of  the  Roman  Catholics.  Its  matter  and  method  have 
undergone  no  essential  change  for  four  hundred  years.  The 
system  was  evolved  by  Loyola,  a  genius,  and  is  still  his  as 
when  founded.  The  purpose  of  the  teaching  Jesuit  is  to  im- 
pregnate the  child's  mind  with  the  dogma  of  the  infalfibility 
of  the  church  and  its  authority.  The  child  is  taught,  there- 
fore, to  accept  religion  and  salvation  as  a  somewhat  to  be 
handed  out  by  the  priest,  coming  always  through  the  church 
and  of  supreme  value.  Teaching  religion  is  therefore  always 
an  apologetic  for  the  church.  This  attitude  toward  the 
church,  accepting  bfindly  its  authority  and  supremacy, 
naturally  creates  an  attitude  of  mind  inhospitable  to  modern 
science,  where  openness  of  mind  is  prime,  and  willingness  to 
fofiow  the  facts  is  final  token  of  mental  integrity.  With  the 
Jesuit,  truth  is  not  ultimate;  the  church  is  ultimate,  and  truth 
is  prized  to  bolster  the  church  and  in  so  far  as  it  bolsters  the 
church.  Teachers  in  Jesuit  schools  teach  their  own  systems 
solely.     The   Jesuits   never   attend    a   normal   school.     The 


156        Religious  Progress  on  the  Pacific  Slope 

same  catechism  is  taught  to  httle  children  as  to  the  mature 
convert.  The  parochial  school  is  growing  rapidly,  and  for 
reasons  independent  of  skill  in  teaching.  The  Roman  church 
is  making  great  outlay  on  the  Coast  for  new  schools.  There 
is  great  development  of  a  material  sort,  but  in  matter  and 
method  the  church  is  static. 

I  have  had  the  privilege  of  an  unhurried  conversation  with  a 
Christian  Scientist  who  has  been  for  years  a  devoted  teacher, 
—  I  think  she  called  herself  so  —  in  a  Christian  Science  Sun- 
day school.  Yet  her  first  word  disclaimed  the  effort  and 
propriety  of  teaching  the  children.  Rather  the  child  must  be 
encouraged  to  make  his  own  observations  and  reflections. 
Their  manual  forbids  instructing  the  child.  Rather  shall  they 
"  demonstrate  "  and  encourage  the  child  to  use  the  same  ma- 
terial as  is  appointed  for  their  elders  and  upon  this  make  his 
own  reflections.  There  is  hinted  a  truth  here,  that  individual- 
ism is  not  to  be  pressed  out  by  any  system,  but  that  a  child 
must  be  himself  and  develop  his  native  genius.  The  query 
arises,  however,  whether  that  can  be  promoted  by  the  twenty- 
six  lessons  which  are  appointed  all  the  devotees  and  are  re- 
peated every  six  months  by  old  and  young:  "  God,"  "  Spirit," 
"  Christ,"  "  Man,"  "  Life,"  etc.  One  cannot  escape  the 
conviction  that  in  the  educational  program  of  the  Sunday 
schools  there  is  the  same  confused  thinking  that  characterizes 
the  philosophy  of  the  movement.  The  writer  regrets  that  the 
rules  of  the  Scientists  forbid  any  onlooker,  and  therefore  he 
has  not  been  able  for  himself  to  see  just  how  they  conduct  a 
school  without  teaching.  However  much  the  purpose  to 
teach  the  child  is  disclaimed,  teaching  is  done,  devotedly  and 
successfully,  through  the  reiteration  of  sharply  defined  doc- 
trines in  season  and  out.  The  result  of  such  teaching  has 
not  had  time  to  appear  sufficiently  in  mature  life.  Educators 
watch  with  interest  and  solicitude. 

May  we,  in  this  survey,  enter  a  plea  for  an  improved  archi- 
tecture that  shall  take  account  of  the  needs  of  the  modern 


Religious  Education  157 

Sunday-school?  Many  of  us  are  old  enough  to  recall  the 
development  of  church  architecture  from  the  meeting-house 
of  one  room  to  that  of  two  rooms,  the  church  and  the  lecture 
room,  which  was  also  the  Sunday-school  room.  We  recall  the 
addition  of  a  third  room  for  the  infant  class.  Then  followed 
in  the  '80s  the  Akron  plan  for  the  Sunday-school,  in  which  the 
school  assembled  in  a  large  semi-circular  area  and  for  study 
retired  to  alcove  classrooms  below  and  above  in  the  balcony. 
Most  architects  have  advanced  not  at  all  beyond  this,  whereas 
the  requirements  have  gone  far  forward,  demanding  separate 
department  rooms  so  shut  off  as  to  permit  of  independent 
and  graded  worship,  with  segregation  for  classes. 

The  Missionary  Education  Movement  has  operated  upon 
the  Coast  three  years.  As  the  name  indicates,  the  movement 
has  distinctly  an  educational  ideal.  The  instruction  takes 
account  of  the  psychology  of  the  growing  mind  of  which  we 
have  been  speaking,  of  adapted  material  (which  is  but  another 
phrase  for  graded  lessons),  of  times  and  methods  of  presenta- 
tion, of  expressional  activity,  which  are  the  remaining  seg- 
ments of  interest  in  modern  rehgious  education.  The  annual 
summer  Conference  at  Asilomar  has  abundantly  justified  the 
undertaking.  Each  year  about  one  hundred  have  been  in 
attendance,  have  been  met  by  a  picked  faculty,  and  have  pro- 
fessed so  many  cases  of  enlightenment  and  transformation  as 
to  prove  the  educational  worth  of  the  venture.  At  Seabeck, 
Washington,  a  similar  Conference  was  held  for  the  first  time 
last  summer  and  with  unexampled  success  in  a  first  meeting. 
They  are  going  forward  with  enthusiasm.  Because  of  its 
educational  value  I  dare  take  time  to  speak  of  an  outgrowth 
of  this.  On  September  23d  our  territorial  secretary  of  the 
Missionary  Education  Movement  left  for  a  tour  of  the  near 
Orient  (near  to  us)  with  a  party  of  six.  The  rate  charged  is 
about  $150.00  less  than  is  charged  by  Cook  &  Son,  or 
Raymond,  for  the  same  one-hundred-day  first-class  tour, 
personally  conducted.     The  party  is  to  visit  mission  stations 


158        Religious  Progress  on  the  Pacific  Slope 

in  Hawaii,  Japan,  China  and  Korea,  for  this  purpose  getting 
off  the  beaten  path.  The  usual  places  of  interest  will  be 
visited  also.  There  have  been  three  similar  tours,  to  my 
limited  knowledge.  The  educational  results  in  first-hand 
knowledge,  unshakable  conviction  and  ardent  interest 
have  always  appeared.  It  is  neither  necessary  nor  fitting 
at  this  time  to  draw  the  picture  of  such  individual 
transformations.  It  is  enough  to  mention  that  this  is  to  be 
the  policy  of  the  Pacific  Southwest  Territorial  Committee 
of  the  Missionary  Education  Movement.  Next  year  again, 
in  the  fall,  a  party  will  be  escorted  to  Latin  America  on  a 
similar  errand.  Half  the  places  are  already  bespoken. 
Educationally  we  believe  great  results  will  appear  in  the 
release  upon  the  home  churches  of  ready  testimony  and  warm 
advocacy  of  missions  by  the  returned  voyagers,  who  will  have 
seen  with  their  own  eyes. 

A  few  words  regarding  the  Christian  Endeavor  Society. 
Only  latterly  can  this  Society  be  said  to  have  cherished  an 
educational  aim.  Heretofore  its  energies  have  been  absorbed 
in  religious  exercise,  fellowship,  and  varied  helpful  activities. 
This  summer  for  the  first  time  some  hundreds  of  Endeavorers 
gathered  at  Mt.  Hermon  to  receive  systematic  instruction 
and  do  assigned  work.  It  marks  an  epoch.  It  is  a  sign  of  the 
times  and  to  be  measured  as  such  rather  than  for  what  has 
already  been  done.  This  sort  of  summer  assembly  for  young 
people  is  not  new  to  the  Methodists  and  the  Baptists.  Both 
of  these  for  years  have  maintained  this  blend  of  inspiration, 
instruction  and  fellowship.  Moreover  the  Baptists,  beyond  any 
others  of  my  knowledge,  have  promoted  an  educational  program 
throughout  the  year  for  their  young  people.  The  field  secretary 
responsible  for  Sunday  school  interests  is  at  the  same  time  re- 
sponsible for  young  people's  work,  and  the  development  of  study 
classes  in  Biblical,  missionary  and  doctrinal  courses.  Forty- 
five  per  cent,  of  the  societies  in  Oregon,  for  instance,  have 
such  guided  study  groups,  enrolling  15%  of  the  membership. 


Religious  Education  159 

This  paper  has  endeavored  a  survey  in  a  field  where  much 
must  be  perceived  as  being  beyond  the  reach  of  figures  and 
tables.     Is  not  the  inference  plain?     There  is  a  rising  response 
to  the  needs  of  our  day  for  educational  adequacy  in  rehgion. 
Those  who  travel  much  among  the  churches  and  who  receive 
the  constant  stream  of  correspondence  from  ministers  and 
laymen   are  not  left  merely  to  inferences.     The  facts  are 
plainer  than  plain.     Our  people  want  to  know  how;   little  of 
the  hortatory,  much  leadership,  much  patient  help.     Would 
that  our  School  of  Rehgion  might  do  the  following  things 
for  our  churches:   First,  train  all  candidates  for  the  ministry 
to  have  an  understanding  of  the  factors  of  true  rehgious  educa- 
tion and  to  have  facility  in  putting  such  knowledge  to  work. 
Second,  train  some  men  to  be  directors  of  religious  education 
for  large  churches,  especially  with  a  view  to  directing  the 
rehgious  education  of  a  group  of  churches,  whether  of  one 
denomination  or  of  several.     What  strength,  spirit  and  effi- 
ciency could  come  to  the  schools  of  a  town  through  such 
leadership!     Third,    make    outreach    to    the    churches,    co- 
operating perhaps  with  denominational  secretaries  of  religious 
education.     Within  limits,  the  church  feels  a  tonic  in  the 
background  and  breadth  of  the  academic  treatment  of  the 
problem.     Fourth,  operate  a  model  school,  whether  a  church 
school,   or  a  school  under  her  auspices,   wherein  principles 
taught  here  may  be  demonstrated,  where  students  may  learn 
by   doing,   where  experience   may  furnish   the   professors   a 
salutary  checi"  lest  they  teach  too  many  things  that  aren't 
so.     Moreover,  a  school  hke  this  ought,  without  presumption, 
to  take  the  lead  in  rehgious  education,  reaching  out  through 
correspondence  courses  —  a  great  service  —  through  expert 
consultation  and  advice,  through  systematic  institutes,  and 
through  frequent  addresses  in  conventions.     It  would  seem 
that  if  only  we  might  take  this  tide  at  the  flood  it  would  lead 
to  the  great  good  fortune  of  the  churches  and  to  an  epochal 
period  for  the  Kingdom, 


Chapter  IX 
RELIGIOUS  WORK  AMONG  IMMIGRANTS 

The  Rev,  George  Warren  Hinman,  M.A. 

District  Secretary  of  the  American  Missionary  Association 

Seventeen  years  before  the  founding  of  Pacific  Theological 
Seminary,  within  two  years  after  California  came  into  the 
possession  of  the  United  States,  two  hundred  thousand  im- 
migrants were  added  to  the  scattered  population  of  the  terri- 
tory. They  came  from  every  state  in  the  Union  and  from 
nearly  every  country  in  the  world.  Six  years  earlier  Marcus 
Whitman  had  made  his  memorable  ride  across  the  mountains 
to  save  the  Oregon  country  to  the  United  States,  and  had 
brought  back  with  him  a  party  of  a  thousand  immigrants,  the 
first  of  that  long  stream,  almost  continuous  from  that  time, 
who  turned  the  scale  from  English  to  American  influence  in 
the  Pacific  Northwest. 

They  were  true  immigrants,  those  daring  adventurers  across 
the  mountains  into  the  great  country  "  where  rolls  the  Ore- 
gon," and,  as  Bryant  imagined,  "  hears  no  sound  but  its  own 
dashing."  Even  more  so  were  the  Forty-niners,  to  whom 
California  meant  little  more  than  a  vision  of  quick  wealth  in  a 
foreign  country.  The  Oriental  immigrant  landing  at  Angel 
Island  on  the  Pacific  Coast,  or  the  South  Eiv^opean  landing 
at  Ellis  Island  on  the  Atlantic,  is  not  more  alien  to  his  new 
environment  than  were  most  of  the  immigrants  to  the  Pacific 
Coast  up  to  1850. 

Though  many  of  them  were  Americans,  yet  there  was  a 
very  large  proportion  who  had  never  known  the  spirit  of 
American  life  and  institutions,  and  who  were  as  little  in 
touch  with  American  political  ideals  as  with  American  religious 
ideals.     There  is  much  evidence  to  warrant  the  behef  that 

1(50 


Work  Among  Immigrants  161 

the  plan  of  winning  California  from  Mexico  was  inspired  in 
the  interest  of  slavery;  later  an  attempt  was  made  in  the 
territorial  legislature  to  establish  a  Chinese  coolie  system  which 
should  be  practically  equivalent  to  slavery.  So  that,  without 
recalling  the  dark  days  of  crime  and  lawlessness  in  San  Fran- 
cisco and  other  parts  of  the  state,  we  may  accept  it  as  a  fact 
that  there  was  great  need  for  religious  work  among  the  early 
immigrants  to  California.  An  old  Negro  in  the  South  told 
me  that  his  impression  of  California  was  of  a  place  where 
Southern  white  men  went  when  they  had  to  run  away  and  hide. 

In  view  of  the  present  distinctive  character  of  Los  Angeles 
as  a  city  of  churches,  it  is  somewhat  of  a  shock  to  learn  that 
from  1858  to  1864  Protestant  ministers  had  almost  given  up 
hope  of  doing  any  religious  work  in  that  city,  and  few  if  any 
religious  services  were  held  there  during  this  period  except 
those  characteristic  of  the  mediaeval  type  of  religion  practiced 
by  the  Roman  Catholic  church  in  Mexico. 

It  is  plain  then  that  the  whole  history  of  religious  develop- 
ment on  the  Pacific  Coast  is  a  history  of  work  for  immigrants, 
—  unless  one  excepts  that  branch  of  religious  work  which  has 
been  the  most  neglected,  missions  for  the  native  Indian  tribes 
of  California. 

We  are  all,  who  live  this  side  the  Rockies,  either  immigrants 
or  the  children  of  immigrants,  and  the  rehgious  conquest  of 
this  great  territory,  which  seventy-five  years  ago  was  practi- 
cally a  heathen  land,  its  transformation  from  a  land  of  savages 
and  desert  wilds  to  an  ordered  and  progressive  civilization, 
accepting  and  following  the  highest  ideals  of  education  and 
religion,  within  the  lifetime  of  many  who  celebrate  this  semi- 
centennial, is  certainly  to  be  classed  among  the  great  achieve- 
ments of  Christian  history. 

But  this  paper  pertains  more  particularly  to  religious  work 
for  those  later  immigrants  on  the  Pacific  Coast  who  have 
come  into  a  society  already  organized,  and  have  brought  with 
them  somewhat  distinct  types  of  social  and  religious  life. 


162        Religious  Progress  on  the  Pacific  Slope 

It  is  not  until  a  relatively  advanced  stage  of  the  religious 
development  of  a  community  that  it  recognizes  an  obligation 
for  missionary  work  among  its  newer  alien  elements,  the  im- 
migrant population.  The  struggle  to  estabhsh  rehgious  ideals 
in  the  Hfe  of  a  community,  during  the  early  years  of  its  history, 
is  usually  so  intense  and  absorbing  that  the  church  has  little 
thought  to  spare  for  the  stranger  in  the  gate.  Churches  in 
California  mountain  towns  fought  for  their  very  life  against 
flagrant  vice  and  rampant  materiahsm,  and  it  is  not  surprising 
that  the  particular  task  of  interpreting  American  Christianity 
to  alien  immigrants  with  a  different  conception  of  rehgion, 
or  with  none,  should  have  been  generally  neglected.  Self- 
preservation  is  the  first  law  of  a  religious  organization  as  well 
as  of  a  human  being,  and  the  individual  salvation  of  the 
church,  salvation  from  the  dismal  swamp  of  a  materiahstic 
civilization,  necessarily  preceded  an  effort  after  the  social 
salvation  of  the  alien  elements  of  the  community. 

To  a  very  considerable  extent  these  conditions  still  prevail 
in  the  valley  and  mountain  towns  of  California  and  in  the 
new  districts  of  Central  Oregon  and  Central  Washington,  and 
in  the  remoter  and  less  accessible  parts  of  the  Puget  Sound 
country.  Yet  in  a  very  remarkable  way  the  Christian  churches 
of  the  Pacific  Coast  have  asserted  their  majority  in  religious 
development  by  evidencing  a  keen  sense  of  obhgation  for  such 
work  among  immigrants. 

In  this  paper  I  shall  first  study  the  numbers  and  nationality 
of  the  immigrant  population  on  the  Pacific  Coast  and  their 
rehgious  antecedents,  next  take  up  a  consideration  of  the 
foreign-speaking  churches,  and  finally  describe  the  more 
definitely  missionary  enterprises  for  immigrants. 

The  United  States  Census  of  Rehgious  Bodies  calls  attention 
to  three  classes  of  churches  among  immigrants  in  the  United 
States  (1)  those  which  seem  to  be  the  result  of  evangelistic  or 
mission  work  by  denominations  themselves  made  up  largely 
of  native  Americans;  (2)  those  which  include  coherent  groups 


Work  Among  Immigrants  163 

of  immigrants  naturally  affiliated  with  particular  American 
denominations,  and  (3)  those  connected  with  denominations 
imported  directly  by  the  immigrant  communities  and  com- 
posed solely  or  largely  of  immigrant  members.     I  shall  dis- 
cuss the  second  and  third  classes  together,  treating  of  the  first 
class  afterward  as  demanding  the  type  of  work  most  naturally 
suggested   by   the   idea   of   rehgious   work   for   immigrants. 
That  is,  we  shall  review,  first,  the  religious  work  that  is  being 
done  largely   by  the  immigrants   themselves  in   their   own 
communities,   in  their  own  languages,   generally  in   church 
organizations  brought  with  them  from  their  own  lands,  and 
under  immigrant  ministers  of  their  own  race  (perhaps  partly 
trained  by  special  institutions  in  this  country)  —  these  churches 
being  self-dependent  or  aided  by  their  own  home  missionary 
societies  or  by  American  missionary  organizations;   second, 
the  religious  work  which  American  churches  are  doing  in  mis- 
sions for  different  races  of  immigrants,  largely  with  American 
workers,  either  through  local  initiative  or  under  the  general 
supervision  of  some  mission  board.     The  organizations  in- 
cluded under  this  head  sometimes  approximate  those  of  the 
first  type,  and  differ  from  them,  as  much  as  in  anything,  in 
their  dependence  on  the  financial  and  moral  support  of  native 
American  religious  organizations.     A  third  grouping  might 
have  been  made,  to  include  those  forms  of  rehgious  work  for 
immigrants  which  do  not  emphasize  the  alien  origin  of  the 
persons  ministered  to  nor  segregate  them  into  racial  groups, 
but  in  a  thoroughly  cosmopolitan  spirit  welcome  and  assist 
the  stranger  without  regard  to  race  or  color  or  previous  condi- 
tion.    If  it  should  seem  that  this  kind  of  rehgious  work  for 
immigrants  exists  only  as  an  ideal,  incapable  of  realization 
under  present  ordinary  conditions,  we  can  at  least  consider 
whether  there  are  not  some  secular  organizations,  like  public 
schools,  labor  unions,  lodges  and  poKtical  clubs,  which  have 
definitely  accepted  this  ideal  and  are  practically  working  it 
out,  and  whether  it  is  not  a  desirable  and  reahzable  ideal, 


164        Religious  Progress  on  the  Pacific  Slope 

toward  which  the  missionary  thought  and  effort  of  American 
churches  ought  to  be  directed. 

I.  Numbers,    Origin    and    Rehgious    Antecedents  of    Immi- 
grants on  Pacific  Coast. 

There  were  more  than  two  milhon  persons,  foreign  born  or 
of  foreign  parentage,  in  the  states  of  Washington,  Oregon  and 
CaHfornia  in  April,  1910,  being  48%  of  the  total  population. 
About  half  of  them  were  born  in  this  country  of  foreign 
parentage,  and  so,  to  a  greater  or  less  extent,  according  to  their 
capacity  for  assimilation  or  the  favorable  condition  of  their 
environment,  Americanized. 

In  view  of  this  very  large  proportion  of  immigrants  from 
other  countries  and  their  children  of  the  first  generation, 
making  every  other  person  on  the  Pacific  Coast  either  foreign 
born  or  of  foreign  parentage,  it  is  a  relief  to  our  natural  ap- 
prehensions lest  Americanism  be  swamped,  when  we  learn 
that  680,000  of  this  two  million  are  of  British  stock,  650,000 
are  from  European  countries  that  are  non-English  speaking 
but  generally  of  the  Protestant  faith,  while  only  450,000  are 
from  Roman  Catholic  countries  of  Europe,  75,000  from  Greek 
Catholic  countries,  and  110,000  are  of  Oriental  stock. 

On  the  other  hand  we  must  remember  that  the  character  of 
the  immigration  has  changed  greatly  in  recent  years,  that  the 
number  of  immigrants  to  the  Pacific  Coast  from  Northwestern 
Europe  has  increased  only  50%  in  the  decade  from  1900  to 
1910,  while  the  number  from  Southeastern  Europe  increased 
232%.  Meanwhile,  the  total  population  of  the  district  in- 
creased 73%,  so  that  the  new  immigration  from  Southeastern 
Europe,  which  has  pressed  immigration  problems  upon  the 
attention  of  all  thoughtful  Americans  so  heavily  during  the 
last  few  years,  increased  three  times  as  rapidly  as  the  total 
population  of  the  Pacific  Coast. 

In  a  population  thus  made  up,  with  16^%  British  stock, 
16%  Continental  Protestant  stock,  13%  Roman  and  Greek 
Catholic  stock  and  2|%  Oriental  stock,  the  question  of  the 


Work  Among  Immigrants  1G5 

religious  affiliations  of  these  two  million  immigrants  and  their 
children,  —  this  not  yet  completely  Americanized  half  of  our 
Pacific  Coast  population,  —  becomes  very  significant.  Are 
their  religious  affiliations  such  as  will  emphasize  ideals  of 
personal  character  and  social  relations  calculated  to  strengthen 
and  build  up  a  Christian  democracy?  Or  will  they  foster  and 
perpetuate  superstition,  ignorance  and  a  blind  yielding  to 
ecclesiastical  authority? 

It  is  a  mistake  to  suppose  that  the  immigrant  per  se  is  a 
menace  to  our  country.  Half  of  almost  any  audience  you 
are  likely  to  face  in  church  or  elsewhere  would  disprove  such 
an  idea  by  their  own  distinct  contribution  to  the  best  hfe  of  the 
nation.  Not  even  the  much  maligned  Oriental  is  a  menace 
because  he  is  an  Oriental.  An  alien  religionist  who  wor- 
ships ugly  painted  clay  gods,  or  has  low  standards  of  sexual 
morality,  is  a  menace  to  our  civilization,  not  because  of  his 
race,  but  because  such  beliefs  and  practices  pollute  the  spiritual 
atmosphere  we  breathe.  So  the  religious  origin  and  habits  of 
the  immigrant  who  comes  to  the  Pacific  Coast  should  concern 
us  much  more  deeply  than  the  geographical  location  of  his 
home  and  the  language  he  speaks. 

No  figures  are  available,  as  far  as  I  know,  indicating  the 
proportion  of  those  two  million  who  are  members  of  a  church, 
or  how  they  are  divided  among  Catholic,  Protestant  and 
Oriental  religious  bodies.  But  of  the  total  membership  of  all 
religious  bodies  on  the  Pacific  Coast,  as  reported  in  1906 
(only  one-third  of  the  total  population),  just  50%  were  Roman 
Cathohc,  47%  Protestant  and  3%  belonged  to  all  other 
rehgious  bodies,  including  Jews,  Buddhists  and  Mormons. 
We  may  suppose  that  a  considerably  larger  proportion  of  the 
immigrant  population  than  the  one-third  reported  by  the 
census  for  the  total  population  is  affiliated  with  some  church. 
The  custom  of  the  Catholic  countries  to  enroll  all  members 
of  a  family,  and  of  Jewish  congregations  to  enroll  only  the 
head  of  a  house,  makes  the  figures  of  membership  in  these 


166        Religious  Progress  on  the  Pacific  Slope 

organizations  rather  uncertain,  but  we  may  assume  from  the 
practice  in  European  countries  having  a  state  church  that  a 
large  proportion  of  the  immigrants  from  those  countries  would 
be  nominally  members  of  some  church,  Catholic  or  Protestant. 
Hence  of  our  two  milhon  immigrants  and  children  of  immi- 
grants in  1910,  probably  at  least  a  million  were  connected 
with  some  church,  and  of  these  more  than  half  were  Catholics. 
According  to  the  percentages  of  total  immigrant  population, 
about  one-third  of  this  million  use  English  as  their  mother 
tongue,  and  perhaps  a  third  more  have  adopted  it.  The 
census  of  Religious  Bodies  reports  in  1906  that  there  were  208,- 
357  persons  on  the  Pacific  Coast  in  religious  organizations 
using  a  foreign  language  in  their  church  services. 

In  1910,  the  number  of  members  in  such  churches  would 
probably  have  been  about  320,000.  These  fellow  Christians, 
of  other  races  and  other  languages,  and  the  large  body  of  non- 
English-speaking  immigrants  who  have  dropped  away  from 
whatever  church  affiliations  they  might  have  had  iii  their 
own  land,  are  the  ones  about  whom  we  should  be  especially 
concerned.  The  English-speaking  immigrants  and  the  chil- 
dren of  immigrants  who  have  been  educated  in  our  public 
schools  should  fit  naturally  and  easily  into  our  religious,  as 
they  do  into  our  social  and  political  life.  If  they  do  not, 
something  is  seriously  at  fault  in  our  American  churches. 

II.  Immigrant  churches. 

It  would  be  a  very  narrow  point  of  view  which  should  as- 
sume that  all  religious  work  for  immigrants  must  be  done 
de  novo,  that  there  is  nothing  in  the  previous  religious  history 
of  the  immigrant's  life  which  can  be  of  use  in  an  American 
Christian  community.  Hundreds  of  thousands  of  immi- 
grants, of  course,  in  the  beginnings  of  our  national  history, 
brought  with  them,  like  the  immigrants  of  Plymouth,  an 
ideal  which  was  to  influence  strongly  the  whole  course  of  our 
national   development.     And   even   among   the   later  immi- 


Work  Among  Immigrants  167 

grants,  who  have  poured  in  upon  us  in  such  floods  during 
recent  years,  there  were  not  lacking  great  companies  of  men 
and  women  whose  faith  was  a  bulwark  of  moral  character  and 
an  organizing  principle  of  society. 

A  discussion  of  religious  work  for  immigrants  must  take 
careful  account  of  the  indigenous  rehgious  life  of  the  immi- 
grant, and  of  the  strong  constructive  forces  which  proceed 
from  the  ecclesiastical  organizations  the  immigrant  brings 
with  him  to  this  country. 

No  one  should  carelessly  assume  that  a  study  of  religious 
work  for  the  immigrant  need  consider  only  definite  mission- 
ary enterprises  of  distinctly  missionary  churches.  Though 
Baptists,  Congregationahsts,  Methodists,  Presbyterians  and 
Episcopahans  are  noted  by  the  census  report  as  being  par- 
ticularly active  in  mission  work  for  immigrant  communities, — 
Congregationahsts  having  8.2%  of  their  churches  using  a 
foreign  language,  —  yet  such  bodies  as  the  EvangeHcal, 
Moravian  and  Reformed  churches  and  the  Roman  Catholic 
church  have  about  40%  of  their  churches  made  up  of  immi- 
grants who  use  another  language  than  Enghsh  in  their  services, 
while  the  German  and  Scandinavian  Evangelical  and  Lu- 
theran churches  are  large  and  vigorous  denominations  made 
up  almost  entirely  of  immigrants  and  brought  with  the 
immigrant  when  he  came  to  this  land.  The  significance  of 
the  religious  contribution  which  such  immigrant  churches 
and  denominations  are  making  to  the  religious  life  of  the 
country,  and  very  notably  to  our  Pacific  Coast  region,  is, 
I  think,  very  inadequately  appreciated. 

In  1906  the  United  States  Census  reported  965  organiza- 
tions in  the  Pacific  Coast  states  as  using  a  foreign  language  in 
their  church  services,  355  in  Washington,  158  in  Oregon  and 
452  in  California.  In  these  965  religious  organizations, 
twenty-one  different  languages  were  used,  Armenian,  Chinese, 
Croatian,  Dutch,  Finnish,  German,  Greek,  Hebrew,  American 
Indian,  Itahan,  Japanese,  Lithuanian,  Magyar,  Norwegian, 


168        Religious  Progress  on  the  Pacific  Slope 

Polish,  Portuguese,  Ruthenian,  Slavic,  Spanish,  Swedish, 
Syriac,  Welsh.  The  members  of  these  foreign-speaking 
churches  comprised  22^%  of  all  the  church  membership  on 
the  Pacific  Coast.  The  percentage  in  California  is  larger  than 
in  the  other  states,  on  account  of  the  large  number  of  non- 
English-speaking  adherents  of  the  Roman  Cathohc  church,  — 
Mexicans,  Italians,  Portuguese,  etc. 

It  is  certainly  a  significant  matter  when  one  out  of  every 
four  or  five  persons  connected  with  the  churches  on  the  Pacific 
Coast  worships  God  in  a  foreign  language.  There  is  evidently 
a  large  amount  of  religious  work  being  done  for  or  by  the 
immigrant,  of  which  few  native  American  religious  leaders 
have  any  comprehensive  knowledge.  It  is  so  easy  to  regard 
difference  of  language  as  an  almost  insuperable  barrier,  with 
the  result  that  these  foreign-speaking  churches  are  almost 
completely  isolated  from  the  fellowship  of  the  American 
churches. 

There  are  ten  distinctly  American  denominations  repre- 
sented in  the  Pacific  Coast  states  which  have  churches  using  a 
foreign  language  in  their  services,  —  Baptists,  Congrega- 
tionalists,  Methodists,  Presbyterians,  Episcopalians,  Cumber- 
land and  United  Presbyterians,  and  Disciples,  Friends  and 
Salvation  Army.  Besides  these  the  German,  Swedish,  Nor- 
wegian and  Danish  Lutheran  churches,  the  Swedish  Mission 
Covenant  and  other  Swedish  Free  churches  and  the  churches 
of  the  Evangelical  Association,  are  largely  made  up  of  immi- 
grants using  a  foreign  language  in  their  services.  In  addition 
to  these  Protestant  denominations  there  are  represented  also 
foreign-speaking  organizations  of  the  Roman  Catholic  church, 
the  Russian,  Greek,  Slavic  and  Servian  churches,  the  Jewish 
synagogues  and  the  Buddhist  temples.  San  Francisco  has  a 
Hindu  temple,  where,  however,  Enghsh  is  the  language  of  the 
service.  It  has  also  a  Greek  Catholic  church.  Oakland  is 
the  residence  of  a  high  ecclesiastic  of  the  Servian  church. 
The  Japanese  Buddhists  claim  twelve  temples  on  the  Coast 


Work  Among  Immigrants  169 

with  3,165  members.  The  Sikh  religion,  to  which  the  Punjabi 
Hindus  in  America  give  allegiance,  is  taught  and  practiced  in 
a  temple  in  Stockton,  Cal.,  and  in  another  in  Vancouver, 
B.  C.  The  Chinese  temples  in  the  Coast  states  can  hardly  be 
classified  as  organizations  doing  any  religious  work  of  any 
kind  for  the  Oriental  immigrant.  The  directories  of  our 
Pacific  Coast  cities  show  that  Spokane  has  twenty-five 
Protestant  churches  for  immigrants  using  a  foreign  language 
in  their  services,  and  one  Catholic;  Portland,  40  Protestant 
churches  or  missions  and  three  Catholic ;  Seattle  and  Tacoma, 
71  Protestant  and  2  Catholic;  Los  Angeles,  65  Protestant  and 
4  Catholic,  and  the  San  Francisco  Bay  region,  83  Protestant 
and  8  Catholic.  Probably  more  than  one-third  of  all  the 
religious  organizations  among  immigrants  using  a  foreign 
language  are  found  in  these  centers  of  population. 

Of  the  Protestant  denominations  having  churches  among 
immigrants  on  the  Pacific  Coast,  Congregationalists  report 
60  organizations.  Baptists  97,  Methodists  111,  Presbyterians 
37,  including  altogether  about  22,000  persons.  The  large 
majority  of  the  Protestant  immigrants  or  children  of  immi- 
grants on  the  Pacific  Coast  using  foreign  languages  in  their 
religious  services  belong  to  the  Lutheran  and  Free  churches 
of  Germany  and  the  Scandinavian  countries,  probably  not 
less  than  125,000  persons.  Congregationalists  have  churches 
or  missions  among  Indians,  Armenians,  Mexicans,  Chinese, 
Japanese,  Hindus,  Italians,  Finns,  Danes,  Norwegians, 
Swedish  and  Germans.  Baptists  have  missions  also  among 
Russians;  Methodists  and  Presbyterians  among  Koreans. 
In  addition  to  most  of  the  nationalities  mentioned,  Methodists 
on  the  Pacific  Coast  have  40  German  churches,  20  Swedish, 
21  Danish-Norwegian,  22  Japanese,  8  Chinese  and  22  Mexican 
churches  or  missions.  Presbyterians  have  9  Mexican  churches 
or  missions,  7  Japanese,  4  Chinese,  12  Indian,  2  Armenian  and 
2  German.  Baptists  have  34  Swedish  churches,  19  German, 
11  Mexican,  6  Chinese  and  2  Japanese.     Congregationalists 


170        Religious  Progress  on  the  Pacific  Slope 

have  30  German  churches,  13  Japanese  churches  or  missions, 
9  Chinese  churches  or  missions,  6  Scandinavian  churches, 
one  church  for  Itahans  and  Spanish  and  three  missions  for 
Mexicans. 

It  has  been  the  practice  of  the  Methodist  church  to  organize 
separate  conferences  for  the  churches  using  each  foreign  lan- 
guage, and  the  work  of  German,  Swedish,  Chinese  or  Japanese 
conferences  is  carried  on  according  to  the  same  plan  as  that 
of  the  other  conferences  under  the  presidency  of  the  local 
bishop.  The  Presbyterians  and  Baptists  include  foreign- 
speaking  churches  in  their  local  denominational  organiza- 
tions, having  only  geographical  and  not  racial  or  linguistic 
groupings  of  their  members.  The  Congregationalists  have 
had  no  established  custom  in  this  matter,  though  it  has  been 
found  in  practice  extremely  difficult  to  develop  fellowship 
relations  between  the  foreign-speaking  churches  and  those  in 
which  Enghsh  is  used.  Where  such  churches  are  only  a  very 
small  percentage  of  the  total  number  in  the  denomination 
with  which  they  are  affihated  they  are  apt  to  become  an 
isolated  group,  lacking  a  good  deal  of  the  fellowship  which 
they  should  have  with  other  denominational  groups  of  their 
own  nationality  and  at  the  same  time  failing  to  form  the 
strong  links  of  fellowship  which  ought  to  exist  between  churches 
of  the  same  denomination,  even  though  using  a  different 
language. 

Immigrants  to  this  country  naturally  bring  their  religious 
organizations  with  them,  and  where  the  immigration  is  normal 
and  in  sufficient  numbers  these  imported  institutions  are  well 
estabhshed  and  strongly  maintained.  The  conditions  of  life 
in  a  new  country  tend  to  conservatism  in  these  rehgious 
institutions  as  the  strongest  tie  binding  the  immigrant  to  his 
mother  country.  When  therefore  the  immigrant  who  is 
affiliated  with  an  American  denomination  finds  it  exceedingly 
difficult  to  estabhsh  religious  fellowship  with  native  Americans 
of  the  same  denomination,  one  can  see  that  there  is  little 


Work  Among  Immigrants  171 

encouragement  for  others  to  break  away  from  the  imported 
denominations  and  religious  forms.  Were  it  not  that  the 
religious  Hfe  and  thought  of  Germans,  Scandinavians,  Rus- 
sians, French  and  Italians  is  subject  to  the  same  influences 
which  have  developed  the  free  churches  of  England  and 
America,  and  that  the  immigrant  has  in  many  cases  already 
broken  with  the  estabhshed  churches  of  his  own  country, 
there  would  be  little  chance  of  his  crossing  the  chasm  which 
seems  to  separate  him  and  his  people  from  the  American 
churches,  no  matter  how  much  he  may  desire  to  enter  into 
their  freer  and  larger  rehgious  life. 

The  fact  that  so  large  a  number  of  German,  Scandinavian, 
Armenian  and  Japanese  immigrants,  organized  in  churches 
using  these  languages  respectively,  should  have  affihated 
themselves  with  denominations  regarded  as  definitely  Ameri- 
can, Hke  the  Baptist,  Congregational,  Presbyterian  and 
Methodist,  indicates  a  strong  instinctive  fellowship  of  spirit, 
which  ought  certainly  to  find  a  clearer  and  more  general  out- 
ward expression. 

To  many  of  these  churches  made  up  of  immigrants  using  a 
foreign  language  the  American  denominations  with  which 
they  are  affiliated  have  rendered  large  financial  assistance, 
which  has  made  it  possible  for  them  to  establish  themselves 
with  a  vigorous,  self-dependent  church  life  in  their  new  home. 
The  Congregational  Home  Missionary  Society  has  prepared 
figures  showing  that  since  1885  it  has  expended  $18,332  in 
aid  of  Scandinavian  Congregational  churches  on  the  Pacific 
Coast,  and  $29,936  in  aid  of  German  Congregational  churches. 
The  Congregational  Church  Building  Society  has  also  put 
considerable  money  into  buildings  for  these  churches.  It  may 
be  assumed  that  the  other  denominations  having  a  number  of 
such  foreign-speaking  churches,  —  Methodists,  Presbyterians 
and  Baptists,  —  have  also  given  large  amounts  of  missionary 
money  to  the  carrying  on  of  this  work.  In  the  sense  therefore 
of  financial  aid  the  American  churches  have  done  a  very  con- 


172        Religious  Progress  on  the  Pacific  Slope 

siclerable  amount  of  missionary  work  for  these  relatively  self- 
dependent  and  religiously  advanced  immigrants.  But  in 
spite  of  the  large  investment  of  money  there  has  been  a 
relatively  small  investment  of  interest,  these  immigrant 
churches  not  being  (such  is  human  nature)  sufficiently  helpless 
to  be  appealing.  Missionary  work,  to  be  effective,  must  be 
taken  out  of  the  realm  of  romance  and  carried  on  according 
to  recognized  pedagogic  principles  which  apply  different 
methods  with  equal  faithfulness  to  mature  students  and  to 
children  in  the  kindergarten. 

Besides  the  large  number  of  churches  made  up  of  immi- 
grants using  a  foreign  language  in  their  worship  which  have 
voluntarily  affiliated  themselves  with  American  denomina- 
tions, there  are  a  considerable  number  of  others  which  might 
easily  be  brought  into  such  fellowship  if  properly  approached 
with  Christian  brotherliness.  Sometime  ago  I  found  a  Swed- 
ish church  in  San  Diego,  calling  itself  Congregational,  but 
having  no  fellowship  relation  with  American  Congregational 
churches,  and  not  included  in  any  published  list  of  Congrega- 
tional churches.  Not  merely  one  immigrant  church,  but  in 
fact  a  whole  group  of  such  churches,  the  Swedish  Missionary 
Covenant,  are  so  sympathetic  with  the  ideals  and  practices  of 
Congregationalism  that  only  a  cordial  spirit  of  fellowship 
seems  necessary  to  bring  them  into  that  denomination. 

Here,  then,  it  seems  to  me,  is  one  of  the  greatest  and  most 
insistent  needs  in  the  rehgious  work  for  immigrants,  that  we 
should  believe  in  their  rehgious  life  and  welcome  them  with 
sincerity  to  our  Christian  fellowship.  When  they  asked 
Jesus,  "  What  shall  we  do  to  work  the  works  of  God?  "  he 
said,  "  This  is  the  work  of  God,  that  ye  believe  on  him  whom 
he  hath  sent."  The  most  effective  religious  work  for  the 
immigrant  is  to  share  Jesus'  universality  of  sympathy. 

An  interesting  phase  of  the  religious  life  of  immigrants  who 
have  brought  with  them  their  own  church  organization  is  the 
tendency    toward    union    of    their    various    denominational 


Work  Among  Immigrants  173 

organizations  along  racial  lines.  Armenians  of  Presbyterian 
and  Congregational  churches  are  much  closer  together  than 
Congregationalists  of  different  nationalities.  Especially 
among  the  Japanese  is  there  a  very  strong  impulse  to  come 
together  on  common  ground  as  Japanese  Christians  rather 
than  as  Presbyterians  or  Methodists.  If  it  were  not  for  the 
personal  and  local  disagreements  which  spring  up  so  easily 
in  the  immigrant  communities  (with  their  somewhat  isolated 
and  limited  life),  and  that  these  disagreements  so  often  form 
the  real  basis  for  a  denominational  division  into  churches, 
church  union  should  be  easy  among  the  foreign-speaking 
churches. 

It  is  at  least  doubtful,  however,  whether  the  tendency  of 
immigrants,  speaking  a  foreign  language,  to  unite  in  rehgious 
organization  along  racial  lines,  is  a  desirable  one  to  encourage, 
and  whether  the  resulting  churches,  made  up  of  distinct 
nationalities,  would  be  a  satisfactory  condition  of  our  general 
religious  life.  Much  as  I  believe  in  church  union  among  the 
Japanese,  I  cannot  help  the  conviction  that  a  Japanese 
Church  of  Christ  in  America,  the  organization  of  a  new  de- 
nomination on  racial  lines,  would  be  a  serious  hindrance  to 
the  progress  of  international  brotherhood,  whatever  were  its 
effect  upon  interdenominational  fellowship.  The  organiza- 
tion of  various  denominations,  made  up  exclusively  of 
Negroes,  deprived  the  colored  people  of  a  vast  deal  of  relig- 
ious co-operation,  instruction  and  inspiration  which  southern 
white  Christians  might  have  given  to  them. 

The  fault  there,  as  here,  was  in  the  failure  of  Christian 
fellowship  between  races.  Instead  of  a  Christian  brotherhood 
which  could  overleap  all  barriers  of  language  and  race,  we 
have  substituted  a  worthy  desire  for  racial  independence  in 
religious  life  and  work.  Perhaps  it  is  a  necessary  stage  in  the 
evolution  of  a  universal  Christianity,  but  it  is  a  long  way  from 
the  ideal. 

A  notable  fact  in  regard  to  the  immigrant  churches  using  a 


174        Religious  Progress  on  the  Pacific  Slope 

foreign  language  is  a  growing  restlessness  on  the  part  of  the 
younger  generation,  which  is  not  attracted  by  the  services  in 
the  mother  tongue  and  the  old  religious  forms.  Pastors  of 
these  churches  are  feeling  that  they  must  have  some  services 
in  English  to  hold  the  young  people.  This  is  of  course  an 
indication  of  the  inevitable  but  difficult  process  of  completely 
Americanizing  the  churches  of  the  immigrants.  It  requires 
very  careful  study  to  learn  how  we  may  do  two  necessary 
things:  first,  help  the  foreign-speaking  pastor  to  introduce 
English  and  new  methods,  and  second,  help  to  save  and 
welcome  into  American  churches  the  young  people  who  drift 
away  from  the  foreign-speaking  church  of  their  parents. 

It  would  probably  be  a  surprise  to  most  mission  workers, 
even,  to  be  told  that  there  are  in  Los  Angeles  and  presumably 
in  the  other  large  centers,  large  numbers  of  Japanese  young 
people  who  do  not  understand  Japanese  well  enough  to  follow 
a  sermon  in  our  Japanese  mission  churches.  Brought  up  in 
the  Hawaiian  Islands  and  educated  in  our  public  schools,  they 
already  know  English  better  than  Japanese,  and  are  reached 
neither  by  our  American  nor  our  Japanese  churches.  This 
is  probably  even  more  true  of  Chinese  young  people,  and 
also  to  a  considerable  extent  of  the  children  of  European 
immigrants.  Children  of  parents  speaking  a  foreign  language 
are  growing  up  by  tens  and  hundreds  of  thousands  in  all  our 
Coast  communities,  growing  away  from  the  thoughts  and 
customs  and  language  of  their  parents,  away  from  the  moral 
restraints  and  wholesome  conservatism  of  their  parents' 
native  land,  and  constantly  attracted  by  the  freedom  and 
novelty  of  American  ways.  They  are  easily  caught  by  the 
superficial  aspects  of  our  national  life,  but  not  as  readily 
brought  into  the  current  of  our  deeper  and  more  characteristic 
spiritual  life  and  fellowship.  It  must  be  admitted  with  cha- 
grin that  in  many  cases  the  children  of  immigrants  who  have 
taken  a  creditable  place  and  rank  in  our  public  educational 
institutions,  do  not  take  so  readily  to  our  distinctive  American 


Work  Among  Immigrants  175 

religions  institutions,  and  do  not  go  into  them  as  a  matter  of 
course  as  they  do  into  the  pubhc  schools. 

It  would  seem  sometimes  as  though  the  churches  were  close 
corporations  or  labor  unions,  jealously  guarding  their  member- 
ship and  their  privileges  from  those  of  alien  stock.  In  some 
respects  no  phase  of  the  problem  of  religious  work  for  immi- 
grants is  more  distressing  than  the  apparent  difficulty  of  this 
final  process  of  rehgious  assimilation.  Native  Americans, 
born  of  Oriental  or  European  parentage,  no  longer  held  by  the 
rehgious  institutions  of  their  parents,  offer  one  of  the  most 
attractive  and  fertile  fields  for  missionary  work.  But  this 
work  must  be  carried  on  with  such  a  whole-hearted  and  sincere 
spirit  of  Christian  brotherhood,  such  a  complete  absence  of 
the  patronizing  attitude  often  found  in  mission  work,  such  a 
unanimity  of  spiritual  welcome  on  the  part  of  a  whole  church 
membership  instead  of  by  one  hired  missionary,  as  shall 
convince  even  the  most  sensitive  and  the  most  skeptical  of 
these  new  Americans  that  we  want  them  in  our  Christian 
fellowship. 

Many  churches  which  are  contributing  liberally  to  missions 
are  not  truly  missionary  in  this  sense.  They  do  not  win  the 
new  first-generation  Americans  because  they,  are  not  suffi- 
ciently democratic.  Their  naturahzation  laws  are  too  burden- 
some, and  fellowship  in  American  churches  is  sometimes  more 
difficult  to  attain  than  citizenship  in  American  municipahties. 

We  cannot  afford  to  overlook  the  possibilities  of  large 
contributions  from  such  children  of  immigrants  to  our  higher 
educational  and  religious  life.  Many  immigrants  and  chil- 
dren of  immigrants  have  taken  high  place  in  the  professional 
and  economic  hfe  of  the  Pacific  Coast,  but  several  as  well  have 
become  leaders  also  in  our  ideal  interests,  notable  among  them 
the  new  president  of  the  University  of  Washington. 

In  the  beginning  of  mission  work  for  immigrants,  an  attempt 
was  made  to  do  all  the  work  in  Enghsh.  Most  churches 
now  doing  religious  work  for  the  immigrant,  however  carefully 


176        Religious  Progress  on  the  Pacific  Slope 

they  provide  for  his  instruction  in  English,  yet  see  the  neces- 
sity of  supplying,  at  least  for  a  time,  services  in  his  native 
language,  with  a  pastor  of  his  own  nationality.  The  custom 
of  placing  an  American  missionary  as  pastor  over  a  foreign- 
speaking  group,  even  if  he  knows  their  language,  is  not  gener- 
ally regarded  as  the  most  efficient  means  of  religious  develop- 
ment. 

And  yet,  the  difficulty  of  adjusting  the  foreign-speaking 
group  to  the  larger  use  of  Enghsh  and  to  rehgious  fellowship 
with  English-speaking  Christians,  must  after  all  be  met  by 
us  Americans  with  a  plan  and  a  spirit  which  will  help  the 
immigrant  pastors  of  such  groups  to  work  out  this  Christian 
assimilation  of  their  people.  I  believe  most  of  these  foreign- 
speaking  pastors  see  the  temporary  character  of  their  work  in 
a  foreign  language  and  are  anxious  for  the  co-operation  of 
American  rehgious  leaders  in  the  necessary  transformation. 

III.     Missions  for  Immigrants. 

The  objective  missionary  work  for  immigrants,  undertaken 
by  American  churches,  as  distinguished  from  the  indigenous 
rehgious  life  and  activities  of  immigrant  groups,  presents  many 
remarkable  achievements  and  is  an  encouragement  to  much 
more  comprehensive  and  efficient  effort.  It  has,  naturally, 
been  directed  toward  those  immigrants  coming  from  non- 
Christian  or  Roman  Catholic  countries,  immigrants  whose 
previous  religious  history  gave  little  promise  of  making  them 
good  American  citizens.  In  most  respects  such  work,  carried 
on  partly  or  wholly  in  a  foreign  language  and  in  the  midst  of 
an  alien  environment,  corresponds  to  the  type  of  foreign  Mis- 
sion work,  with  the  difficulties  and  discouragements  and 
slow  progress  which  has  generally  characterized  the  early 
stages  of  foreign  mission  work.  In  addition,  such  work  for 
immigrants  in  America  has  often  been  hindered  or  thwarted 
by  prejudice  and  indifference  on  the  part  of  even  good  Chris- 
tian people,  whose  constant  relation  with  these  immigrants  in 


Work  Among  Immigrants  VT7 

a  business  way,  instead  of  being  an  opportunity  for  religious 
helpfulness,  is  a  distinct  discouragement  to  acceptance  of 
a  new  religion.  Another  hindrance  to  the  effectiveness  of 
these  missions  to  immigrants  has  been  the  use  of  certain  un- 
wise and  inefficient  methods,  the  employment  of  immature 
and  inexperienced  teachers,  and  the  sheer  failure  on  the  part 
of  many  well-meaning  people  to  meet  these  strangers  without 
patronage  or  condescension. 

In  spite  of  these  difficulties,  splendid  results  have  been 
achieved  by  many  missionaries  whose  faith  and  ingenuity 
were  able  to  make  that  wonderful  adaptation  of  Christianity 
which  we  believe  fits  it  to  the  pecuhar  circumstances  of  every 
race  of  mankind. 

On  the  Pacific  Coast  it  was  the  Chinese  immigrants  who 
first  presented  the  missionary  appeal  to  American  Christians, 
and  it  is  recorded  that  in  1850  the  mayor  of  San  Francisco 
assisted  at  a  presentation  of  Bibles  and  rehgious  tracts  to  the 
Chinese,  and  declared  at  a  Fourth-of-July  celebration  in 
which  they  participated,  "  The  China  boys  will  yet  study  in 
the  same  schools,  vote  at  the  same  polls  and  bow  at  the  same 
altars  as  our  own  countrymen."  It  was  not,  however,  till 
1868  that  there  was  a  general  organization  of  missionary 
work  for  them. 

Dr.  Gibson  for  the  Methodists,  Dr.  Condit  for  the  Presby- 
terians and  Dr.  Pond  for  the  Congregationalists  were  pioneers 
in  missions  for  the  Chinese.  The  significance  of  the  work  of 
these  missions  is  very  great  in  the  improved  social  status  of 
the  Chinese  communities  on  the  Pacific  Coast,  but  much  more 
in  the  epochal  changes  of  recent  years  in  China,  which  have 
owed  more  than  most  people  suppose  to  the  influence  of  the 
returned  emigrant.  On  the  Pacific  Coast  there  are  fifty- 
four  missions  for  the  Chinese  in  twenty-five  towns  and  cities, 
carried  on  by  seven  denominations,  Methodist,  Baptist, 
Presbyterian,  Congregational,  EpiscopaHan,  Christian  and 
Cumberland  Presbyterian,  also  three  independent  missions. 


178        Religious  Progress  on  the  Pacific  Slope 

There  are  perhaps  fifteen  hundred  Christian  Chinese  members 
of  churches  on  the  Pacific  Coast,  but  the  number  who  have 
returned  to  China  is  probably  many  times  as  large.  The 
proportion  of  Protestant  Christians  in  the  Chinese  population 
of  San  Francisco  is  the  same  as  the  proportion  in  the  total 
population.  Possessing  the  largest  Chinese  population,  the 
San  Francisco  Bay  region  is  naturally  the  center  of  Chinese 
missionary  work,  having  eleven  missions  in  the  city  of  San 
Francisco  under  seven  denominations,  and  the  same  number 
on  the  other  side  of  the  bay,  using  eight  fine  buildings,  which 
provide  in  some  cases  for  dormitories  as  well  as  schools  and 
chapels.  Los  Angeles  has  eight  missions  for  the  Chinese  under 
six  denominations,  Sacramento  four,  Portland  four  and  Seattle 
two. 

Missions  for  the  Japanese  date  chiefly  from  1897.  There 
are  now  more  than  seventy-five  Japanese  churches  or  mis- 
sions on  the  Pacific  Coast,  carried  on  by  nine  denominations 
in  more  than  forty  cities  and  towns.  Los  Angeles  and  the 
surrounding  districts  is  by  far  the  largest  center  of  Japanese 
population  in  the  United  States.  Ten  churches  and  missions 
are  supported  in  this  region  by  seven  denominations,  sixteen 
in  the  bay  region  of  San  Francisco  by  eight  denominations. 
The  number  of  Japanese  Christians  reported  is  about  four 
thousand,  and  the  churches  are  ministered  to  by  forty-one 
pastors,  usually  well-trained.  Not  so  much  has  been  done  in 
the  way  of  providing  suitable  buildings  for  the  Japanese  work, 
as  for  the  Chinese,  except  by  the  Methodists,  who  have  16 
buildings  for  their  work,  valued  at  $167,700. 

The  reflex  influence  upon  their  own  native  lands  of  religious 
work  done  among  Chinese  and  Japanese  in  America  is  one  of 
the  most  significant  and  valuable  results  of  the  work,  and 
indicates  the  impossibility  of  separating  home  missions  and 
foreign  missions.  But  the  full  story  of  the  share  of  returned 
immigrants  in  the  missions  of  China  and  Japan  has  never  yet 
been  adequately  told. 


Work  Among  Immigrants  179 

The  character  of  the  mission  work  for  Japanese  has  been 
considerably  modified  by  the  influence  of  strongly  established 
churches  and  Christian  educational  institutions  in  Japan, 
which  have  affected  the  life  and  thought  of  many  of  the 
Japanese  immigrants.  On  this  account  the  rehgious  work 
for  Japanese  immigrants  tends  to  conform  to  the  first  type 
discussed,  where  the  immigrant  community  is  carrying  on  a 
religious  life  which  seems  spontaneous  and  native  rather 
than  one  so  evidently  adopted  from  others. 

In  fact  the  experience  of  mission  work  for  immigrants  leads 
strongly  to  the  conclusion  that  there  is  little  satisfactory 
accomplishment  until  by  some  spontaneous  movement,  aris- 
ing out  of  the  initiative  of  the  immigrant  communities, 
American  Christianity  becomes  really  naturalized  among 
them,  and  they  make  it  a  vital  thing  in  their  own  thought, 
permanently  modifying  their  inherited  religious  attitudes 
and  contributing  their  distinctive  something  to  a  universalized 
Christianity. 

Besides  missions  for  Chinese  and  Japanese,  other  distinctive 
mission  work  of  this  type  is  done  for  Italians,  Russians, 
French  and  Portuguese  in  San  Francisco  and  Los  Angeles, 
and  for  Mexicans  in  many  places  in  Southern  Cahfornia. 

The  most  notable  fact  about  mission  work  for  these  na- 
tionalities is  that  scarcely  a  beginning  has  yet  been  made 
upon  it.  It  would  convey  a  wrong  impression  to  say  that  it  is 
inadequate.  Sporadic  missionary  enterprises  for  all  except 
Oriental  and  Mexican  immigrants  appear  to  be  accidental 
rather  than  the  result  of  a  settled  missionary  policy  of  our 
churches.  Only  in  very  recent  years  in  fact  has  there  been 
any  special  activity  in  mission  work  for  the  Mexicans,  Metho- 
dists now  having  twenty-two  churches  or  missions  and  a 
superintendent  giving  his  whole  time  to  this  work,  Baptists 
eleven,  Presbyterians  nine,  Congregationalists  three.  Roman 
Catholics,  of  course,  have  special  churches  or  missions  for 
French,  Italians  and  Portuguese,  but  of  Protestant  missions, 


180        Religious  Progress  on  the  Pacific  Slope 

the  directories  of  ten  leading  cities  on  the  Pacific  Coast  show 
only  one  or  two  missions  for  French,  in  Los  Angeles;  two  for 
Italians,  one  for  Spanish  and  one  for  Russian  in  San  Francisco, 
and  the  same  for  each  of  these  nationalities  in  Los  Angeles, 
and  one  for  Portuguese  in  Oakland.  The  Church  Federation 
of  Los  Angeles  reports  also  one  or  two  missions  for  Slavs  and 
two  missions  for  Jews.  It  remains  evident,  however,  after 
the  most  painstaking  survey,  that  mission  work  for  our  most 
religiously  destitute  immigrants,  with  the  exception  of  three 
nationalities  (Chinese,  Japanese  and  Mexican),  has  hardly 
been  seriously  considered  as  a  task  of  the  Protestant  churches 
on  the  Pacific  Coast.  The  activity  of  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  and 
the  Y.  W.  C.  A.  in  San  Francisco  and  Los  Angeles  in  the  work 
of  their  immigration  departments,  with  English  schools, 
citizenship  schools,  homes  for  girls  like  the  International 
Institute  in  Los  Angeles,  and  home  visitation,  is  of  only  very 
recent  origin  and  of  relatively  inconsiderable  amount.  It  is 
arousing  some  interest  among  the  churches,  but  more  as  a 
novel  and  romantic  form  of  work  than  as  a  serious  attempt  to 
solve  a  great  problem.  Most  of  the  church  missions  for  im- 
migrants, except  those  for  Chinese,  Japanese  and  Mexicans, 
are  isolated  and  unique  experiments,  undertaken  by  each 
denomination  independently. 

The  increasing  pressure  of  the  problem  of  religious  work 
for  such  immigrants  as  Slavs,  Greeks,  Russians,  Italians, 
Portuguese,  —  the  great  mass  of  that  new  immigration, 
which  is  lacking  in  the  religious  vitality  which  characterized 
the  earlier  immigration  from  northwestern  Europe,  —  forces 
us  to  acknowledge  that  we  are  terribly  handicapped  in  meet- 
ing it  by  two  weaknesses  of  our  churches,  racial  prejudice  and 
denominational  narrowness  of  vision.  The  churches  are  not 
generally  willing  to  open  their  doors  and  their  hearts  to  these 
needy  people  of  the  Latin  and  Slavic  races,  and  they  are  not 
generally  willing,  when  an  attempt  is  made  to  help  them,  that 
it  should  be  part  of  a  well-organized,  comprehensive  interde- 


Work  Among  Immigrants  181 

nominational  strategy.  We  may  be  able  eventually  to  wake 
up  the  churches  to  the  necessity  of  work  for  these  rehgious 
backward  immigrant  peoples,  but  the  task  will  be  almost  hope- 
less if  we  have  to  continue  organizing  Southern  Methodist 
Japanese  missions  and  United  Presbyterian  Italian  missions, 
and  Dutch  Reformed  missions  for  Greeks  or  Russians.  When 
will  some  great  leader  bring  the  officers  of  the  allied  armies 
into  a  conference  which  shall  formulate  united  plans  for  a  great 
offensive? 

Some  attempts  have  been  made  to  apportion  the  work  for 
different  immigrant  races  in  America  to  the  missionary 
agencies  of  different  denominations.  By  general  agreement 
in  New  England,  Congregationalists  work  for  Armenians, 
Greeks,  Syrians  and  Portuguese.  In  Los  Angeles  there  is  an 
understanding  that  among  the  large  classes  of  wholly  un- 
reached immigrants,  Congregationahsts  ought  to  take  up 
work  for  Greeks  and  Slavs. 

A  few  figures  may  help  to  show  the  great  numbers  of  these 
later  immigrants,  among  whom  rehgion  has  Httle  moral  power, 
and  by  whom  the  forces  of  American  Christianity  have  been 
scarcely  felt.  The  number  of  immigrants  from  Southwestern 
Europe  was  in  1910  increasing  five  times  as  fast  as  the  number 
from  Northwestern  Europe.  In  the  year  ending  June  30, 
1914,  one  and  one-fourth  milhon  immigrants  came  to  the 
United  States,  more  than  a  milhon  from  Southern  Europe. 
Though  the  expected  flood  of  South  European  immigrants  to 
the  Pacific  Coast  by  way  of  the  Panama  Canal  has  been  hin- 
dered by  the  European  war,  we  have  already  a  problem  of 
assimilation  which  is  almost  appalhng.  There  are  streets  in 
our  cities  where  almost  every  sign  is  in  a  foreign  language; 
there  are  districts  in  the  country  where  one  cannot  get  a  drink 
of  water  without  using  a  foreign  language.  While  European 
emigration  has  been  checked  by  the  war,  Mexicans  have 
poured  across  our  southern  border,  and  there  are  said  to  be 
150,000  in  Southern  California,  more  than  all  the  Orientals 


182        Religious  Progress  on  the  Pacific  Coast 

in  all  the  Coast  states.  Careful  surveys  of  the  population  of 
Los  Angeles  show  that  110,000  out  of  a  population  of  550,000 
are  from  races  distinctly  backward  in  religious  ideals,  — 
a  mission  field  that  demands  the  immediate  and  earnest 
consideration  of  the  churches  —  23,000  Slavs,  Russians, 
Croatians  and  Poles,  28,000  Hebrews,  Italians,  Armenians, 
Greeks  and  Spaniards,  10,000  or  12,000  Orientals  and  50,000 
Mexicans.  For  about  half  of  this  110,000  people  there  is 
scarcely  a  si^igle  effective  missionary  enterprise.  The  secular 
investigators  of  this  question  are  appalled  at  the  danger  which 
such  neglect  involves.  They  point  out  as  the  result  of  very 
careful  study  that  the  cost  to  Los  Angeles  of  its  neglect  of  the 
immigrant  amounts  to  one  and  one-fourth  million  dollars 
annually,  spent  on  account  of  crime,  sickness,  poverty  and 
unemployment,  while  only  $39,000  was  spent  in  the  construc- 
tive work  of  education  for  the  adult  immigrant.  The  invest- 
ment of  the  churches  in  religious  work  for  these  immigrants 
is  probably  less  than  a  third  of  even  this  small  sum. 

Similar  surveys  of  our  other  large  cities  would  reveal  even 
more  serious  conditions.  Many  of  the  newer  cities  are  not 
yet  conscious  that  they  have  an  immigrant  problem,  since  it  is 
so  easy  to  pass  by  on  the  other  side  and  avoid  the  "  foreign 
quarter."  But  meanwhile  the  cost  of  crime  and  sickness  and 
poverty  and  unemployment  mounts  up,  and  at  length  both 
the  churches  and  the  secular  organizations  will  be  shocked 
into  activity  by  some  appalling  tragedy  due  to  the  neglect  of 
the  immigrant. 

It  will  have  been  easy  to  understand  from  the  discussion 
so  far  that  religious  work  for  immigrants  is  mainly  a  problem 
because  of  difference  in  language  and  customs  of  life.  Hence 
the  use  of  foreign  languages  in  religious  services  is  taken 
here,  as  in  the  census  of  Religious  Bodies,  as  an  index  of  the 
situation,  and  instruction  in  English  is  recognized  as  one  of 
the  most  essential  methods  of  doing  rehgious  work  for  immi- 
grants. 


Work  Among  Immigrants  183 

The  necessity  and  efficiency  of  such  work  as  has  been  done 
by  American  churches  in  missions  for  European  and  Oriental 
immigrants  has  been  abundantly  demonstrated  by  its  direct 
results,  but  of  recent  years  it  has  received  added  emphasis 
through  the  action  of  our  public  schools,  our  state  immigration 
and  housing  commissions,  and  various  general  philanthropic 
agencies.  The  night  school  for  adults  and  the  home  visita- 
tion with  practical  instruction  for  mothers,  which  have  so 
long  been  the  methods  employed  by  church  missions  for 
Orientals  and  other  immigrants  on  the  Pacific  Coast,  have  now 
been  enacted  into  law  by  the  legislature  of  California,  and 
free  text-books  are  furnished  by  the  state  to  the  missions 
themselves.  The  amateur  methods  of  teaching  in  the  mission 
night  schools  and  the  unsatisfactory  and  inappropriate  text- 
books have  graduall}'^  been  replaced  by  the  method  and  the 
text-books  which  pedagogical  experts  are  using  in  night  schools 
supported  by  the  state.  The  churches  should  gladly  recognize 
the  superior  technical  ability  now  applied  to  the  work  of 
teaching  the  immigrant  English  and  American  customs  and 
ideals,  while  they  rejoice  that  the  state  has  really  adopted 
their  program  of  work  for  the  immigrant. 

But,  does  this  kind  of  work  appear  to  be  germane  to  a 
discussion  of  religious  work  for  the  immigrant,  or  is  it  religious 
only  when  it  is  carried  on  by  the  churches?  I  want  to  frankly 
and  emphatically  declare  my  conviction  that,  in  so  far  as  such 
night  school  and  home  visitation  work  is  undertaken  by  public 
school  teachers  and  representatives  of  state  commissions  in 
the  spirit  of  service  and  brotherhood,  it  is  genuine  missionary 
work  and  certain  to  raise  the  moral  level  of  our  national  life, 
if  it  does  not  actually  bring  the  immigrant  nearer  to  our 
American  churches. 

The  report  of  the  California  Commission  on  Immigration 
and  Housing  is  a  remarkable  missionary  document.  The 
report  of  the  work  of  the  first  home  teacher  appointed  under 
the  new  law,  in  its  varied  activities,  ministering  to  physical. 


184        Religious  Progress  on  the  Pacific  Slope 

social  and  educational  needs  of  immigrant  mothers  of  all 
races,  Oriental  as  well  as  European,  might  well  have  appeared 
in  the  columns  of  a  missionary  magazine,  if  it  had  not  been 
for  the  rather  amusing  warning  which  it  contains  against 
discussing  religion  with  the  people  to  whom  the  home  teacher 
ministered.  The  posters  and  information  bureaus  of  the 
State  Commission  to  safeguard  and  direct  the  immigrant 
would  certainly  be  regarded  as  good  missionary  work  if  they 
were  paid  for  by  some  denominational  missionary  society 
and  administered  by  its  agents. 

But  perhaps  the  most  important  reinforcement  of  the  work 
which  the  churches  have  done  for  the  immigrant  is  in  the 
industrial  education  and  economic  direction  of  the  immigrant 
men,  women  and  children,  which  is  now  being  done  by  the 
public  schools  and  the  State  Commissions,  and  in  the  investiga- 
tion and  correction  of  unhealthful  and  demoralizing  living 
conditions  in  immigrant  communities.  If  cleanliness  is 
next  to  godliness,  then  the  churches  might  properly  have 
emphasized  more  strongly  the  need  of  proper  living  conditions 
for  European  and  Oriental  immigrants  if  rehgious  instruction 
is  to  bear  fruit  in  changed  character.  How  characteristically 
illogical  it  is  for  unthinking  good  people  to  blame  the  Chinese 
for  their  slowness  in  accepting  Christianity  and  American 
ideals,  while  we  allow  them  or  compel  them  to  live  in  the  midst 
of  debasing  physical  and  moral  surroundings. 

A  careful  survey  of  the  Chinese  quarter  of  any  CaHfornia 
city  will  show  toleration  of  living  conditions  under  which  we 
would  not  regard  it  possible  for  any  strong  religious  life  to 
develop.  Our  State  Commission  on  Immigration  and  Hous- 
ing is  making  known  publicly  and  officially  what  many  mis- 
sionary workers  have  long  recognized,  that,  besides  giving  to 
Chinese,  Hindu  and  Greek  immigrants  a  religious  impulse  to 
better  character,  we  owe  them  at  least  the  simplest  external 
aids  to  decency.  The  State  Commission  is  really  doing  mis- 
sionary work  on  behalf  of  the  immigrant  when  its  report  de- 


Work  Among  Immigrants  185 

clares  the  current  notion  that  any  condition  of  vice  and 
filth  is  "  good  enough  for  a  Chinaman,"  to  be  a  disgrace  to 
American  civihzation. 

The  institutional  features  of  Christian  missions  and  of  the 
Y.  M.  C.  A.  and  Y.  W.  C.  A.,  now  coming  to  be  such  a  large 
and  efficient  factor  in  their  missionary  work,  will,  in  the  future, 
be  much  more  largely  reinforced  by  municipal,  state  and 
federal  agencies  as  the  proper  expression  of  a  religious  purpose 
on  the  part  of  a  Christian  nation.  It  would  be  a  mistake  for 
missionary  societies  not  to  count  definitely  on  such  co-opera- 
tion as  may  be  possible  with  these  agencies,  and  shape  their 
plans  so  as  not  to  duplicate  betterment  work  which  can  be 
done  more  efficiently  through  them. 

The  conclusion  of  our  whole  study  is,  then,  that  there  is  a 
growing  sense  of  responsibility  on  the  part  of  churches  and  of 
our  pubHc  institutions  generally  for  the  religious  or  at  least 
the  moral  life  of  the  immigrant,  a  recognition  of  the  relation  of 
standards  of  hving  to  moral  and  rehgious  progress,  an  acknowl- 
edgment of  the  potential  value  of  the  spiritual  life  of  the 
immigrant  and  of  the  worth  to  him  of  having  his  distinctive 
churches,  a  confession  of  our  lack  of  fellowship  with  him  in 
other  than  business  relations,  and  an  intelhgent  effort  to 
remove  some  of  the  barriers  which  have  hindered  his  assimila- 
tion to  true  Christian  Americanism.  From  indifference  or 
anxiety  concerning  the  coming  of  the  immigrant,  we  are 
turning  to  a  resourceful  optimism,  as 

"  Shoulder  to  shoulder  they  come  from  the  loins  of  a  thousand  lands, 
The  men  with  the  New  World  brains  and  the  men  with  the  Old  World 

hands ; 
And  the  vision  is  bright  of  the  City  to  Be, 
And  the  joy  of  the  morning  is  there,  and  the  thrill  of  the  sea." 

Finally,  the  present  status  of  immigration  to  America, 
almost  completely  stopped  by  the  European  War,  and  hable 
to  be  closely  restricted  by  European  governments  after  the 
war,  gives  to  the  Christian  churches  an  exceptional  oppor- 


186        Religious  Progress  on  the  Pacific  Slope 

tunity  to  catch  up  with  their  reUgious  obhgations  on  behalf 
of  these  strangers  in  our  gates.  There  has  been  danger  that 
the  milHons  of  new  immigrants  would  not  only  lower  wages  of 
labor  and  standards  of  living,  but,  more  important  by  far, 
that  they  would  essentially  change  our  characteristic  American 
ideals.  We  have  considered  restriction  of  immigration.  Now 
that  is  done  for  us.  We  need  only  to  demonstrate  anew  the 
assimilative  power  of  Christian  brotherhood,  and  our  immi- 
grant problem  will  be  largely  solved. 


Chapter  X 

RELATIONS  WITH  THE  ORIENT 

The  Rev.  Harvey  Hugo  Guy,  B.D.,  Ph.D. 

Professor  of  Missions  and  Comparative  Religion 

I  am  to  discuss  our  Oriental  Relations,  not  merely  the 
relations  of  the  United  States  with  the  Orient  but  the  total 
touch  of  the  Western  World  on  the  Eastern.  It  will  be  seen 
at  once  that  this  must  be  done  in  the  briefest  possible  manner. 

I  am  not  to  discuss  the  California-Oriental  problem,  for 
that,  to  my  mind,  is  merely  an  incident  in  the  larger  considera- 
tion which  engages  us  here.  By  laws  regulating  Chinese 
immigration  and  by  the  so-called  Gentleman's  Agreement 
with  Japan,  further  Oriental  labor  is  effectively  barred  from 
our  shores.  The  only  question  remaining  in  this  connection 
concerns  the  treatment  accorded  Orientals  now  legally  resident 
in  the  United  States.  Having  been  invited  to  our  shores  on 
promises  of  equal  treatment  under  equal  laws,  they  feel  that 
the  present  discrimination  against  them  is  both  unjust  and  a 
violation  of  the  spirit  of  the  treaties,  and  also  a  subversion  of 
the  high  rules  of  good  neighborhness.  They  ask  for  their 
countrymen,  who  are  here,  treatment  such  as  is  accorded  im- 
migrants from  other  countries.  Nothing  more  is  asked,  noth- 
ing less  will  satisfy. 

I  am  to  discuss  particularly  the  great  world  issues  which 
have  arisen  out  of  these  relations  with  the  East.  In  com- 
merce we  need  each  other  —  the  West  and  the  East.  We  can 
hope  to  develop  the  world's  resources  to  their  highest  values 
only  when  the  present  dangerous  competition  gives  way  to 
wholehearted  co-operation. 

The  time  for  trading  diplomatic  compliments  with  daggers 
behind  our  backs  has  passed,  and  the  time  for  open,  frank 

187 


188        Religious  Progress  on  the  Pacific  Slope 

discussion  of  the  great  issues  has  arrived.  Exclusion,  dis- 
crimination, both  in  the  Orient  and  here,  have  served  only  to 
confuse  and  hinder  the  progress  towards  a  final  settlement. 
Mutual  regard  based  on  mutual  understanding  will  bring  us 
nearer  a  final,  peaceful  adjustment  of  all  differences  than  any 
amount  of  diplomatic  dodging  the  issue. 

It  is  hoped  that  this  discussion  may  in  some  small  way 
throw  light  on  two  questions:  Why  the  present  deplorable 
estrangement  between  the  East  and  the  West?  What  is  the 
solution  of  the  difficulty? 

China  and  the  West.  On  June  3,  1839,  the  Chinese  Imperial 
Commissioner  appointed  to  deal  with  England  in  connection 
with  the  opium  traffic,  called  upon  Captain  Elliott  at  Hong 
Kong,  and  forced  him  to  turn  over  twenty  thousand  two  hun- 
dred ninety-one  (20,291)  chests  of  opium  destined  for  interior 
markets.  This  was  immediately  destroyed  as  a  warning  to 
England;  but  the  Britisher  took  it  lightly,  and  charges  of 
opium  smuggling  continued  to  be  made  against  the  foreign 
merchants.  The  traffic  spread,  and  with  it  the  hatred  of  the 
English,  yet  China  was  helpless.  She  had  to  suffer  the  un- 
speakable curse  of  the  "  black  smoke  "  and  witness  Satan's 
awful  brand  placed  on  the  foreheads  of  her  children,  to  remain 
for  generations  a  terrible  memorial  of  the  unbounded  greed 
and  selfishness  of  a  Western  nation. 

How  intensely  the  Chinese  felt  with  reference  to  the  opium 
traffic  may  be  gained  from  the  words  of  Chang  Chih  Tung 
(1900),  written  many  years  later: 

"  Assuredly  it  is  not  foreign  intercourse  that  is  ruining 
China,  but  this  dreadful  poison.  Oh,  the  grief  and  desola- 
tion it  has  wrought  to  our  people!  A  hundred  years  ago  the 
curse  came  upon  us  more  blasting  and  deadly  in  its  effects 
than  the  Great  Flood  or  the  scourge  of  the  Fierce  Beasts, 
for  the  waters  assuaged  after  nine  years,  and  the  ravages  of 
the  man-eaters  were  confined  to  one  place.  Opium  has  spread 
with  frightful  rapidity  and  heartrending  results  through  the 
provinces.     Millions  upon  millions  have  been  struck  down 


Relations  with  the  Orient  189 

by  the  plague.  Today  it  is  running  like  wildfire.  In  its 
swift,  deadly  course  it  is  spreading  devastation  everywhere, 
wrecking  the  minds  and  eating  away  the  strength  and  wealth 
of  its  victims.  The  ruin  of  the  mind  is  the  most  woful  of  its 
many  deleterious  effects.  The  poison  enfeebles  the  will, 
saps  the  strength  of  the  body,  renders  the  consumer  incapable 
of  performing  his  regular  duties,  and  unfit  for  travel  from  one 
place  to  another.  It  consumes  his  substance  and  reduces  the 
miserable  wretch  to  poverty,  barrenness  and  senility.  Un- 
less something  is  soon  done  to  arrest  this  awful  scourge  in 
its  devastating  march,  the  Chinese  people  will  be  transformed 
into  satyrs  and  devils!  This  is  the  present  condition  of  our 
country." 

Back  of  the  mere  matter  of  selling  opium,  however,  was  the 
evident  desire  of  England  to  set  up  general  trade  relations 
with  China,  and  indeed  the  opium  traffic  was  only  an  item  in 
the  general  contention.  This  conflict  marks  the  beginning  of 
China's  humiliation  at  the  hands  of  western  powers.  Eng- 
land completely  overpowered  the  Chinese  and  forced  them  to 
sign  the  famous  treaty  of  Nanking  in  1842,  which  provided 
that  China  should  pay  England  an  indemnity  for  the  opium 
which  she  had  destroyed  and  also  cede,  in  fee-simple,  the 
Island  of  Hong  Kong.  In  addition  to  this  demand  the  follow- 
ing ports  were  opened  to  foreign  commerce:  Canton,  Amoy, 
Foochow,  Ningpo,  and  Shanghai.  With  the  opening  of  these 
ports  to  foreign  commerce,  extraterritoriality  was  established 
along  with  the  appointment  of  consuls  and  ministers. 

Things  went  on  very  nicely  for  a  while,  but  with  the  change 
of  Chinese  officials  it  was  easy  to  forget  what  former  incum- 
bents in  office  had  promised.  This,  together  with  the  growing 
restlessness  in  the  presence  of  extraterritorial  courts,  made  the 
Chinese  somewhat  oversure  of  themselves.  In  order  to 
enforce  her  treaty  rights,  England  felt  compelled  again  to  take 
up  arms  against  China.  It  goes  without  saying  that  the 
fortunes  of  war  went  against  the  Chinese  and  a  treaty  was 
signed  in  1860  reaffirming  former  obligations  and  assuring 
certain  further  privileges. 


190        Religious  Progress  on  the  Pacific  Slope 

A  Revolt  Against  Over -Civilization.  "  The  Boxer  Uprising 
was  the  expiring  effort  of  China  to  carry  to  its  logical  conclu- 
sion the  exclusion  policy  which  found  its  earliest  embodiment 
in  the  Great  Wall,  200  B.C.  "  —  Bishop  Bashford. 

When  China  realized  that  inch  by  inch  her  territory  was 
being  forcibly  taken  from  her,  the  shame  of  it  all  came  home 
to  thousands  of  faithful  sons  of  the  Empire  with  terrible 
reahty.  Russia  was  in  Port  Arthur;  England  in  Hong  Kong, 
Shanghai  and  Wei-hai-wei;  Italy  was  seeking  a  foothold, 
though  the  other  western  powers  did  not  look  on  this  with 
favor;  France  was  in  Tongking;  Germany  was  estabhshing 
herself  in  Shangtung,  and  already  had  begun  to  question 
England's  sole  possession  of  certain  concessions  in  the  rich 
territory  of  the  Yangtse  Valley,  and  more  than  Ukely  would 
have  gone  to  war  over  the  question  had  not  the  Russo-Japanese 
conflict  intervened.  In  the  minds  of  many  the  "  break-up  " 
of  China  was  at  hand ;  even  the  Chinese  themselves  had  begun 
to  fear  this  dreadful  consummation.  Two  years  before  the 
outbreak  of  the  Boxer  Uprising,  in  explanation  of  the  occupa- 
tion of  Kiao-chau,  Prince  von  Buelow  in  a  speech  before  the 
Reichstag  had  made  plain  the  intentions  of  Germany: 

"  Mention  had  been  made  of  the  partition  of  China;  such 
a  partition  will  not  be  brought  about  by  us,  at  any  rate.  All 
we  have  done  is  to  provide  that,  come  what  may,  we  ourselves 
shall  not  go  empty-handed.  The  traveller  cannot  tell  when 
the  train  is  to  start,  but  he  can  make  sure  not  to  miss  it  when 
it  does  start.     The  devil  takes  the  hindmost." 

That  attitude  was  again  stated  with  Imperial  clearness  by 
Kaiser  Wilhelm  in  his  famous  speech  at  Bremen  to  the  German 
troops  departing  for  China  to  assist  in  quelUng  the  Boxer 
Uprising,  July  27,  1900: 

"  The  Chinese  have  overthrown  the  law  of  nations;  pre- 
serve the  old  Prussian  thoroughness;  show  yourselves  as 
Christians  in  joyfully  bearing  your  trials;  may  honor  and 
glory  follow  your  flags  and  weapons.     You  know  very  well 


Relations  with  the  Orient  191 

that  you  are  to  fight  against  a  cunning,  brave,  well-armed  and 
terrible  enemy.  If  you  come  to  grips  with  him  give  no  quarter, 
take  no  prisoners.  Use  your  weapons  in  such  a  way  that  for  a 
thousand  years  no  Chinese  shall  dare  to  look  upon  a  German 
askance.  —  Open  the  door  for  culture  once  for  all." 

In  spite  of  her  helplessness  and  poverty,  China  struck  for 
revenge,  struck  to  maintain  the  past  on  the  one  hand  and  to 
repel  her  foes  on  the  other.  However,  the  Boxer  Uprising 
was  another  disaster  for  China,  a  disaster  with  mighty  signifi- 
cance for  the  whole  Orient.  From  that  time  on  a  widespread 
anti-foreign  propaganda  was  carried  on  throughout  the  entire 
East.     China  was  humihated  but  the  East  was  aroused. 

The  one  ray  of  light  which  falls  across  this  dark  page  of 
history  is  the  example  set  by  the  United  States.  A  new 
standard  of  international  justice  was  raised  by  the  newest  of 
entrants  into  the  Oriental  situation.  The  United  States  ac- 
cepted her  share  of  the  indemnity  levied  on  China  at  the  close 
of  the  Boxer  Uprising,  with  the  definite  understanding  that  it 
would  be  used  to  pay  for  property  destroyed  and  to  assist 
the  famines  of  martyred  missionaries.  Not  one  single  cent 
was  exacted  as  a  penalty.  When  all  the  bills  were  paid  a 
considerable  balance  remained,  which  in  due  time  was  returned 
to  China.  By  this  act  of  broad-mindedness  a  favorable 
impression  was  made  on  the  Orient  which  to  some  degree 
mitigated  the  repulsion  created  by  recent  contact  with  the 
West. 

In  spite  of  this  single  instance  of  fair  treatment  the  gen- 
eral feehng  among  the  Chinese  seems  to  have  been  one  of 
distrust  of  the  plans  and  schemes  of  all  western  nations. 

Japan  and  the  West.  The  commercial  contact  of  the  United 
States  with  Japan,  while  opening  up  a  channel  of  ever-widening 
and  profitable  trade,  was,  in  its  beginning,  also,  the  cause  of 
suspicion  and  distrust.  The  actions  of  Dutch  traders  had 
already  laid  the  foundations  for  this  distrust  in  a  former 
century.     They  had  been  welcomed  by  the  Japanese  in  1609, 


192        Religious  Progress  on  the  Pacific  Slope 

and  were  promised  "  all  manner  of  help,  favor  and  assistance  " 
by  the  then  reigning  Shogun,  leyasu.  It  was  not  long,  how- 
ever, before  Japan  began  to  feel  her  incompetency  in  the 
face  of  the  expert  Dutch  traders,  and  consequently  proceeded 
to  place  limitations  of  many  sorts  on  the  expansion  of  foreign 
relations.  The  activities  of  the  Dutch  were  confined  to  the 
seaport  of  Nagasaki  and  all  other  foreigners  were  forbidden  to 
enter  the  Empire.  Probably  the  overpowering  motive  in  the 
minds  of  the  Japanese  for  this  action  was  the  fear  of  foreign 
propaganda,  the  spread  of  the  Christian  doctrine.  Japan 
had  also  begun  to  feel  that  back  of  the  trading  of  the  foreigner 
and  his  preaching  lurked  a  danger  to  the  Empire  which  could 
not  be  overlooked.  It  was  after  this  feeling  of  distrust  and 
fear  had  grown  to  considerable  proportions  that  America 
began  to  reach  out  to  the  Orient. 

In  1837,  the  sailing  vessel  Morrison  entered  the  bay  of 
Yokohama,  returning  some  Japanese  mariners  who  had  been 
wrecked  on  our  shores.  Later  the  Manhattan  on  a  similar 
errand  of  mercy  anchored  off  Uraga.  Both  of  these  vessels 
were  refused  landing,  and  were  threatened  with  violence  if 
they  did  not  depart. 

The  report  of  this  distrust  and  mistreatment  reaching  the 
ears  of  the  President  through  Cooper,  master  of  the  Man- 
hattan, it  was  determined  to  send  an  expedition  to  Japan  both 
to  clear  away  misapprehensions  and  open  the  country  to 
foreign  trade.  Consequently  in  1846,  Commodore  Biddle,  with 
a  "  ninety-gun  ship  of  the  hne  and  a  sloop,"  was  despatched  to 
Japan  to  seek  trade  sanctions,  but  receiving  a  positive  refusal, 
he  returned  with  nothing  accomplished. 

In  1847,  the  King  of  Holland  tried  by  diplomatic  cor- 
respondence to  induce  Japan  to  open  the  country  to  foreign 
trade.  This  was  not  successful  and  resulted  only  in  an  in- 
creased fear  of  foreign  nations  on  the  part  of  Japan. 

In  1848,  the  United  States  was  compelled  to  send  the 
Preble,  a  brig  under  command  of  Commodore  Glynn,  to  de- 


Relations  with  the  Orient  193 

mand  the  delivery  of  some  fifteen  seamen  stranded  on  the 
shores  of  Japan.  This  action  must  have  resulted  in  further 
increasing  Japan's  fear  of  the  West. 

It  was  in  the  year  1849,  with  what  design  or  purpose  is  not 
apparent,  that  the  King  of  Holland  again  intervened,  this 
time  to  warn  Japan  that  she  might  expect  an  American  fleet 
at  any  moment  and  stating  that  war  was  inevitable  unless  she 
agreed  to  international  commerce. 

The  Washington  Government  had  actually  addressed 
notes  to  the  European  powers  suggesting  concerted  action 
and  justifying  her  proposed  expedition. 

This  expedition  reached  Japan  in  the  year  1853,  and  con- 
sisted of  a  squadron  of  four  ships  with  560  men  under  com- 
mand of  Commodore  Matthew  Calbraith  Perry.  The  ap- 
pearance of  such  a  fleet  of  "  black  ships  "  in  the  bay  of  Yeddo 
fairly  paralyzed  the  Japanese.  In  their  anxiety  and  fear  they 
begged  for  time  to  consider  what  answer  to  give  the  unpre^ 
cedented  demands  made  upon  them.  Consequently  Commo- 
dore Perry,  being  unauthorized  to  go  further,  left  with  them 
the  letters  of  the  President,  and  sailed  away  to  China,  July 
17,  1853,  announcing  his  intention  to  return  later  for  a  reply. 

In  his  absence  the  Japanese  leaders  took  up  the  matter  of 
their  future  relations  to  the  outside  world.  One  party  op- 
posed foreign  intercourse  because  it  would  "  revoke  the  law  of 
exclusion  "  and  permit  foreigners  "  to  reconnoitre  the  country." 
"  What  has  been  done  by  Western  States  in  India  and  China 
would  doubtless  be  done  in  Japan  also  if  opportunity  of- 
fered." Others  argued  that  it  was  "  impossible  to  maintain 
the  integrity  of  the  Empire  side  by  side  with  the  policy  of 
exclusion."  "  The  coasts  are  virtually  unprotected.  The 
country  is  practically  without  a  navy."  "  In  short,  the 
wisest  plan  is  to  make  a  show  of  commerce  and  intercourse 
and  thus  gain  time  to  equip  the  country  with  a  knowledge 
of  naval  architecture  and  warfare."  The  government's 
attitude  was  put  forth  in  this  single  sentence,  "  Above  all  it  is 


194        Religious  Progress  on  the  Pacific  Slope 

imperative  that  every  one  should  practice  patience,  refrain 
from  anger  and  carefully  observe  the  conduct  of  the  foreigners. 
Should  they  open  hostihties  all  must  at  once  take  up  arms  and 
fight  strenuously  for  the  country." 

Upon  his  return  from  China,  Commodore  Perry  urged  his 
claims  and  the  treaty  with  Japan  was  signed  on  the  31st  of 
March,  1854.  It  was  principally  a  treaty  of  good-will,  entered 
into,  at  least  on  our  part,  with  full  confidence.  Its  first  article 
was  both  a  statement  of  fact  and  a  prophecy : 

"  There  shall  be  perfect,  permanent  and  universal  peace, 
and  a  sincere  and  cordial  amity  between  the  United  States  of 
America  on  the  one  part,  and  the  Empire  of  Japan  on  the 
other  part,  and  between  their  peoples  respectively,  without 
exception  of  persons  or  places." 

One  who  was  present  at  the  time  of  signing  of  this  treaty 
made  this  rather  significant  comment : 

"  Thus  were  completed  the  negotiations  and  signing  of  the 
Treaty  of  Kanagawa,  the  first  one  ever  made  by  the  Japanese. 
Long  may  they  rejoice  over  the  blessings  it  will  bring  them,  and 
may  the  Disposer  of  nations  and  events  make  it  the  opening 
whereby  his  great  Name  may  be  declared  unto  them.  After 
so  many  years  of  seclusion.  He  has  inchned  them  to  listen  to 
this  apphcation  to  loosen  the  strictness  of  their  laws,  and  I 
sincerely  hope  they  will  never  have  occasion  to  repent  of  the 
privileges  granted  on  this  day." 

Thus  did  Japan,  not  altogether  freely,  begin  her  career  of 
commercial  advance  at  the  suggestion  of  a  friendly  nation, 
a  nation  earnestly  planning  for  a  wider,  yet  peaceful,  reach  of 
her  influence.  Similar  treaties  were  soon  entered  into  with 
all  the  great  nations  and  a  new  era  dawned  for  the  East,  an 
era  whose  roseate  beginning  had  not  only  freshness  but  the 
fire  of  national  trial  hidden  within  it. 

The  first  result  of  our  contact  with  Japan  was  to  force  her 
to  make  certain  adjustments  in  her  commercial  and  industrial 
life.     Under  the  old   regime  the  merchant  and  the  laborer 


Relations  ivith  the  Orient  195 

belonged  to  the  less  respectable  classes  of  society.  The  la- 
borer who  worked  for  gain  was  despised  and  the  sordid  ways  of 
the  merchant  made  his  name  a  byword  and  hissing.  Now 
in  the  new  era  which  dawned  with  the  coming  of  the  "  black 
ships  "  the  merchant  who  worked  for  gain  became  greatly 
elevated  in  importance.  Men  were  forced  to  work  for  pay. 
The  old  regime  with  its  love  of  ease  and  its  delight  in  beauty 
and  poetry  soon  began  to  crumble  before  the  effective,  prac- 
tical power  of  modern  commercialism. 

The  sight  of  the  great  steam-propelled  ships  of  the  expedi- 
tion excited  in  the  Japanese  the  desire  to  imitate,  to  follow  in 
the  footsteps  of  the  great  Western  nations;  particularly  did 
they  imitate  the  externals  of  Western  civilization.  This 
meant  a  tremendous  demand  for  the  luxurious  products  of 
our  mills  and  factories.  At  first  the  problem  was  merely  one 
of  buying  our  goods  to  supply  the  imminent  demand  in  Japan, 
and  this  demand  was  for  the  manufactured  finished  product 
only.  As  time  passed  and  the  pressure  of  the  high  cost  of 
living  grew  more  and  more  heavy  on  the  people,  who  were 
unused  to  the  new  ways,  they  began  to  undertake  the  manu- 
facture of  goods  and  to  buy  less  and  less  of  the  finished  product 
from  us  and  more  and  more  raw  material.  The  story  of  this 
commercial  advance  is  too  long  to  continue  in  detail  here. 
Suffice  it  to  say  that  it  was  not  long  until  Japan  saw  that  her 
cheap  labor  and  natural  water  power  in  unhmited  quantity 
made  it  possible  for  her  to  supply  her  own  market  with  cheaper 
goods  and  to  reach  out  to  the  newly  created  demand  among  the 
milHons  in  China.  She  also  began  to  think  of  the  ocean  as  a 
legitimate  highway  to  a  market,  particularly  for  her  silks  and 
works  of  art,  among  the  peoples  of  Europe  and  America. 

Japan  took  stock  of  her  merchantmen.  She  had  none 
worth  mentioning.  Those  she  did  have  were  miserably 
inadequate  and  were  not  constructed  as  seagoing  vessels. 
They  were  equipped  with  sails,  but  the  winds  were  not  favora- 
ble to  commercial  enterprises  on  the  highways  of  the  great 


196        Religious  Progress  on  the  Pacific  Slope 

seas.  New  and  modern  ships  must  be  built  at  whatever  cost. 
These  were  built  and  soon  began  to  sail  along  the  trade 
routes  to  China,  the  South  Seas  and  particularly  to  America. 

Thus  in  less  than  half  a  century  Japan  sprang  from  her 
secluded  contentment  into  the  arena  of  world  commerce  to 
compete  with  the  most  advanced  nations  of  the  world,  to 
challenge  the  admiration  and  the  fear  of  her  former  friends, 
and,  particularly  of  late,  to  threaten  the  "  mastery  of  the 
Pacific  "  with  her  modern,  thoroughly  organized  and  subsidized 
merchant  marine. 

When  the  messengers  from  Commodore  Perry's  fleet 
presented  the  Japanese  with  a  howitzer  as  one  of  the  last  gifts 
before  their  departure,  the  sententious  remark  was  made  by 
one  of  the  Americans  present:  "  I  suppose  the  Japanese  will 
soon  begin  to  cast  others  hke  it,  and  think  themselves  able  to 
resist  foreign  aggression  as  soon  as  they  have  made  guns." 
Early  in  the  history  of  their  foreign  relations  they  reahzed  the 
necessity  of  a  "  knowledge  of  naval  architecture  and  war- 
fare," and  here  we  come,  indeed,  upon  the  most  distressing  and 
dreadful  of  all  the  results  of  our  foreign  commerce.  The 
Japanese  suspected  the  Dutch  of  "  acting  the  part  of  spies." 
The  more  friendly  nations,  coming  to  her  shores  later  on,  did 
not  change  this  impression.  It  was  felt  on  all  sides  that 
the  national  existence  was  being  endangered,  and  that  these 
unsought  and  far-reaching  treaties  carried  in  them  the  poison 
which  would  destroy  the  life  of  the  nation. 

In  order  to  safeguard  the  nation  and  advance  her  interests, 
one  thing  was  apparently  of  supreme  necessity.  There  must 
be  built  up  an  adequate  national  defense,  both  naval  and 
mihtary.  To  this  task  they  set  themselves  with  an  abandon 
and  sacrifice  rarely  seen  in  the  history  of  national  advances. 
In  an  incredibly  short  time  the  bows  and  arrows  and  other 
antiquated  weapons  of  war  were  exchanged  for  the  newest 
death-dealing  instruments.  The  worthless  saiHng  craft  were 
discarded  and  a  navy  of  thorough  equipment  built  up.     The 


Relations  with  the  Orient  197 

tramp  of  boys  training  under  the  new  manual  of  arms  to 
prepare  themselves  to  meet  any  national  emergency  broke 
the  silence  of  a  land  long  dedicated  to  peace  and  sacred  to  the 
milder  though  less  modern  forms  of  civilization. 

With  these  two  mighty  machines  of  war,  her  navy  and  her 
army,  she  was  not  only  able  to  protect  her  shores  against 
foreign  aggression  but  to  advance  her  interests  in  the  surround- 
ing nations.  The  nations  began  to  observe  and  to  fear  her,  — 
a  new  and  mighty  power  had  been  thrown  into  the  world 
balance. 

From  the  cumbersome,  unwieldy  weapons  of  warfare  and 
worthless  saihng  vessels  of  the  Bakufu  to  the  most  splendid 
of  modern  armies  and  effective  of  navies  seems  a  long  step, 
but  Japan  was  not  long  in  taking  it.  However,  the  total 
result  of  this  early  commercial  contact  was  far  from  satis- 
factory. It  led  to  much  confusion  in  the  East  itself.  The 
new  adjustments  touched  some  of  the  fundamentals  of  the 
ethical  system  of  Bushido  and  placed  undue  emphasis  on 
commerciahsm.  It  stirred  up  the  mihtary  spirit,  for  commerce 
followed  the  flag  and  the  flag  waved  at  the  mast  of  the  flagship. 

The  story  of  America's  diplomatic  contact  with  the  Orient, 
Hke  the  story  of  her  commercial  contact,  begins  with  the  Perry 
expedition.  The  first  treaty  was  signed  in  1854.  It  may  be 
interesting  to  note  in  passing  that  the  so-called  "  most  favored 
nation  clause  "  of  that  treaty  was  suggested  by  a  missionary, 
Dr.  Williams. 

It  was  a  fortunate  thing,  fortunate  both  for  Japan  and  the 
whole  world,  that  the  leadership  in  diplomatic  matters  after 
the  signing  of  the  first  treaty  fell  into  the  hands  of  a  truly 
great  minded  and  benevolent  statesman,  the  American  consul- 
general  to  Japan,  Mr.  Townsend  Harris.  With  infinite 
patience  and  foresight  he  labored  at  his  problem,  talked  with 
Japanese  leaders,  presenting  his  cause  with  frankness  yet 
with  sympathy  and  kindness,  and  finally  in  July,  1857,  suc- 
ceeded in  securing  Japan's  first  commercial  treaty. 


198        Religious  Progress  on  the  Pacific  Slope 

Events  in  China  may  have  assisted  in  hastening  matters. 
The  French  and  EngHsh  had  just  captured  the  Peiho  forts  and 
forced  China  to  sign  a  treaty.  Yet  by  no  means  is  it  possible  to 
think  of  those  portentous  days  apart  from  this  too  httle 
known,  yet  truly  great,  American.  So  favorably  did  he 
impress  the  Japanese  of  those  days  that  ever  since  his  name 
has  been  held  in  reverent  remembrance. 

The  crises  of  international  intercourse  are  the  times  when 
the  real  character  of  the  nations  concerned  comes  clearly  to 
view.  The  new  experiences  were  not  wholly  pleasing  to  the 
Japanese.  They  became  restless  under  the  very  pressure  of 
the  greatness  of  these  new  relations.  They  feared  the 
foreigner  in  their  midst.  The  '*  barbarians  "  were  not  pleas- 
ing to  the  leaders,  particularly  to  the  head  of  the  Bakufu 
regime,  the  Shogun.  Many  anti-foreign  edicts  were  issued 
during  the  fifties  and  sixties.  One  of  these  actually  set  May 
11,  1863,  as  the  date  for  expelling  all  foreigners. 

Sometime  before  the  actual  date  set  for  the  carrying  out 
of  this  edict,  the  daimyo  of  Choshu  opened  fire  from  the  fort 
at  Shimonoseki  on  American,  Dutch  and  French  merchantmen 
passing  through  the  straits.  No  damage  was  done,  but  a 
serious  international  misunderstanding  was  precipitated. 
The  English  fleet  joined  the  three  others,  and  proceeding  to 
Shimonoseki  razed  the  fort  and  levied  an  indemnity  of  three 
milhon  dollars  ($3,000,000)  on  the  misguided  exclusionists. 
America's  share  of  that  indemnity  was  S750,000.  This 
money  remained  to  the  credit  of  the  United  States  in  a  New 
York  bank  until  1883,  when  it  was  returned  to  Japan  with 
interest  amounting  to  $30,000.  At  the  suggestion  of  Count 
Okuma,  this  was  applied  to  the  improvement  of  Yokohama 
harbor.  Commenting  on  the  matter  many  years  later,  the 
Count  said,  "  Such  a  noble  act  can  in  fact  be  expected  only  of  a 
country  with  American  standards  of  international  morality." 

These  events  belong  to  a  period  of  revolutionary  changes 
in  the  East.     The  old  feudahsm,  together  with  its  Chino- 


Relations  with  the  Orient  199 

Indian  civilization,  was  giving  place  to  the  New  Japan  pat- 
terned on  Western  civilization,  and  inspired  by  Western  ideals. 
Many  of  the  changes  incident  to  such  a  time  were  not  made 
wiUingly,  but  as  noted  before,  in  the  fear  of  Western  aggres- 
sion. This  fear  and  distrust  were  based  on  the  actions  of 
these  nations,  particularly  in  China. 

The  Japan-China  War  and  the  Triple  Interference.  At  the 
close  of  the  Japan-China  War,  Japan  found  herself  in  pos- 
session of  the  Liaotung  Peninsula  and  the  fortified  city  of 
Port  Arthur.  This  was  easily  the  strongest  fortified  port  in 
Eastern  Asia.  What  price  Japan  paid  for  this  prize,  the 
thousands  of  men  she  sacrificed  and  the  milKons  of  dollars 
she  was  compelled  to  expend,  are  now  matters  of  history. 
The  loss  of  Port  Arthur  was  indeed  a  great  blow  to  China. 
It  meant  that  at  the  gateway  of  her  capital  stood  a  foreign 
power  whom  she  must  consult  upon  entering  or  leaving  the 
Empire.  That  she  was  greatly  displeased  with  this  condition 
of  affairs  and  used  every  means  to  extricate  herself  from  the 
embarrassing  situation  are  not  matters  of  surprise.  Her 
weakness,  however,  placed  her  at  the  mercy  of  her  enemies, 
at  the  time  posing  as  her  friends. 

The  Peace  Conference  was  held  in  Japan  at  Shimonoseki. 
The  veteran  Li  Hung  Chang  had  the  Chinese  affairs  in  charge. 
The  conferences  were  begun  in  March,  1895,  and  went  on 
smoothly,  reaching  a  final  agreement  in  April.  The  treaty 
here  agreed  upon  was  to  be  ratified  at  Chefoo  in  May.  This 
treaty  provided  that  Japan  should  receive  from  China  the 
Liaotung  Peninsula,  Formosa  and  the  Pescadores,  together 
with  an  indemnity  of  two  hundred  miUion  taels.  Everything 
seemed  to  be  satisfactory  to  the  Chinese  representatives,  and 
the  Japanese  made  ready  to  celebrate  what  seemed  to  them  a 
happy  conclusion  and  final  settlement  of  the  conflict  with 
China. 

At  this  moment  of  victory  a  new  factor  demanded  immediate 
consideration.     The  German  minister  at  Tokyo,   under  in- 


200        Religious  Progress  on  the  Pacific  Slope 

structions  from  his  government  and  in  close  alliance  with 
Russia  and  France,  appeared  at  the  office  of  the  Minister  of 
Foreign  Affairs  and  presented  a  note  of  protest.  The  note 
stated  that  the  German  Government  viewed  the  possession 
of  the  Liaotung  Peninsula  by  Japan  as  placing  Peking  in  a 
state  of  perpetual  uncertainty,  threatening  the  independence 
of  Korea  and  placing  a  permanent  barrier  in  the  way  of  the 
peace  of  the  East.  He  also  suggested  that  Japan  was  weak 
and  Germany  was  strong,  and  the  result  of  a  war  would  not 
be  in  doubt.  Should  Japan  refuse  to  listen  to  this  note,  then 
Germany  would  be  compelled  to  intervene.  It  should  be 
stated  that  Great  Britain  was  also  asked  to  join  this  "  concert" 
but  refused  on  the  ground  that  she  saw  no  menace  to  China 
in  Japan's  occupancy  of  Port  Arthur.  Li  Hung  Chang  re- 
turned to  China  and  took  up  the  matter  anew  with  the  three 
nations  which  had  interested  themselves  in  China's  predica- 
ment. On  April  20th,  the  most  important  newspaper  in 
Russia,  the  Novoe  Vremya,  wrote  that  if  "  the  single  port  of 
Port  Arthur  remain  in  the  possession  of  Japan,  Russia  will 
suffer  severely  in  the  material  interests  and  in  the  prestige  of 
a  great  power."  German  newspapers  also  began  to  cry  out 
against  Japan's  taking  possession  of  this  important  port,  on 
the  ground  that  it  would  make  her  a  sort  of  sentinel  over  the 
trade  routes  of  China.  France  echoed  the  same  sentiment 
and  spoke  of  the  perils  to  the  interests  of  Europe  which  would 
certainly  arise,  and  advocated  a  "  European  concert  as  a  duty 
toward  civiHzation."  The  matter  of  the  forming  of  this 
"  concert  "  is  now  ancient  history.  It  consisted  of  Germany, 
France  and  Russia,  and  had  for  its  definite  purpose  the  dis- 
possession of  Japan  of  her  prize  of  war.  In  this  "  concert  " 
Germany  was  the  leader.  She  penned  the  note  of  protest  and 
directed  the  negotiations  from  the  Chinese  side.  At  length 
the  Japanese  Government  was  compelled  to  withdraw  her 
demands  for  the  cession  of  the  Liaotung  Peninsula,  in  lieu  of 
which  she  was  to  receive  an  additional  indemnity  of  thirty 


Relations  with  the  Orient  201 

million  taels.  No  more  pathetic  scene  has  ever  been  enacted. 
Thousands  of  Uves  had  been  sacrificed,  milhons  of  dollars  had 
been  expended  and  the  national  honor  had  been  staked  on  the 
possession  of  this  peninsula.  In  a  moment  these  hopes  and 
dreams  were  smashed. 

The  following  comment  by  a  Japanese  on  the  triple  inter- 
ference of  Russia,  Germany  and  France  on  behalf  of  China 
may  be  of  interest : 

"  What  was  the  meaning  of  this  triple  interference?  It 
was  said  that  Japan's  possession  of  the  Liaotung  Peninsula 
was  dangerous  to  the  peace  of  the  East  and  we  were  called 
upon  to  return  it  to  China,  for  which  thousands  of  our  soldiers 
had  left  their  bones  to  bleach  on  the  Plains  of  Manchuria  or 
their  bodies  to  sink  in  the  turbulent  waters  of  the  Yellow  Sea. 
This  demand  was  backed  up  by  the  united  strength  of  these 
three  countries,  and  we  were  told  that  unless  we  consented  to 
their  demands  that  they  would  attack  the  Bay  of  Tokyo. 
It  was  as  though  an  employer  should  meet  his  laborer  at  the 
end  of  the  day  and  demand  of  him  that  he  turn  over  the  money 
that  he  had  earned  for  that  day's  work,  and  if  he  did  not  do  so 
he  might  expect  blows." 

The  Russo-Japanese  Conflict.  When  the  Western  world 
undertook  to  send  an  army  to  the  rehef  of  foreigners  in  Peking, 
soldiers  were  requisitioned  from  all  of  the  powers  concerned. 
Russia  sent  soldiers  not  only  to  assist  in  the  relief,  but  also  to 
protect  her  railroad  in  Manchuria,  a  thousand  miles  or  more  in 
length.  Immediately  upon  the  outbreak  of  trouble  Russia 
began  to  pour  her  soldiers  into  Manchuria.  When  the  Boxer 
trouble  was  over  she  manifested  no  great  haste  in  with- 
drawing them.  When  protest  was  made  by  foreign  powers, 
instead  of  withdrawing  her  troops,  she  converted  them  into 
*'  railway  guards."  The  presence  of  these  troops  in  Man- 
churia, taken  together  with  the  fact  that  Russia  kept  her 
strategic  possession  in  Port  Arthur,  led  to  grave  suspicion  as  to 
her  intentions.  It  was  felt  by  many  that  she  was  simply  playing 
for  time.     It  seemed  to  the  Japanese  that  she  was  there  not 


202        Religious  Progress  on  the  Pacific  Slope 

merely  to  protect  her  interests,  but  to  advance  them  further 
and  further  to  the  South.  She  already  had  virtual  possession 
of  all  Manchuria  and  her  agents  were  busily  at  work  in  Korea. 
In  anticipation  of  Russia's  possible  next  move,  Japan  un- 
sheathed the  sword. 

The  outcome  of  the  Japanese-Russian  conflict  is  now  a 
matter  of  history.  However,  certain  results  need  here  to  be 
particularly  mentioned.  We  have  seen  that  Germany  and 
England  were  not  too  friendly  in  their  relations  in  the  Yangtse 
Valley.  The  aggressions  of  Russia  into  the  English  sphere  of 
influence  led  England  to  seek  new  alignments. 

Germany  went  on  busily  fortifying  Kiao-chao  in  Shantung. 
She  spent  milhons  of  dollars  in  making  this  the  most  formidable 
port,  with  the  possible  exception  of  Port  Arthur,  in  the  Far 
East.  She  built  her  railroads  in  Shantung  and  opened  her 
coal  mines.  In  order  to  preserve  the  balance  of  power  among 
the  nations  in  the  East,  England  had  moved  northward  and 
leased  Wei-hai-wei,  and  closed  an  alhance  with  Japan  looking 
to  defense  against  possible  further  aggressions  of  Russia  into 
the  English  sphere  of  influence  in  China. 

After  the  close  of  the  war  with  Russia,  the  presence  of 
Germany  began  more  and  more  to  be  felt  by  England  and  the 
alliance  with  Japan  was  renewed  and  signed  at  the  court  of 
St.  James,  July  13,  1911.  At  the  time  of  the  renewal  of  this 
alliance  Russia  had  passed  more  or  less  into  the  background 
and  Germany  appeared  as  the  threatening  power  so  far  as  the 
interests  of  England  and  Japan  were  concerned. 

By  the  time  this  great  war  came  to  a  close  the  East  was 
thoroughly  alarmed.  From  the  Ganges  to  the  borders  of 
Mongolia  a  terrible  fear  possessed  the  people,  the  fear  of 
annihilation.  From  all  her  bitter  experiences  the  East  began 
to  draw  her  conclusions. 

"  Self-preservation  and  racial  protection  seem  to  be  parts  of 
the  vital  spirit  which  heaven  has  given  to  all  living  things. 
Indeed,  the  victory  of  the  strong  over  the  weak,  the  survival 


Relations  with  the  Orient  203 

of  the  fittest,  would  seem  to  be  heaven's  final  decree  in  equity. 
At  the  present  moment  what  meaning  have  righteousness  and 
humanity?  If  victorious,  you  are  defenders  of  the  nations; 
if  defeated  you  are  rebels.  In  the  presence  of  might,  right- 
eousness has  no  light,  reason  hides  itself  in  the  presence  of 
force.  The  sons  of  Confucius  starved  in  the  midst  of  the 
ceremony  and  the  love  of  Christ  turned  to  the  demon  of 
the  cross." 

The  entire  Orient  began  to  take  account  of  itself.  It 
passed  in  review  the  oppressions  of  the  East  India  Company, 
it  realized  afresh  the  terrible  cruelty  of  the  wars  it  had  been 
compelled  to  wage  with  the  Occident.  It  began  to  see  that 
all  treaties  and  conventions  with  the  West  had  been  one- 
sided, and  that  discussions  over  "  balance  of  power "  or 
"  spheres  of  influence  "  had  never  for  a  single  moment  taken 
the  trouble  to  consider  the  possible  effects  these  agreements 
might  have  on  the  territorial  integrity  or  national  honor  of  the 
Orient.  The  resentment  became  universal  and  there  was  a 
deep  and  abiding  feeling  that  rights  are  not  matters  for  argu- 
ment but  are  gained  only  by  the  exercise  of  superior  force. 

The  Present  Situation.  In  the  present  situation  in  the 
Far  East  there  are  two  outstanding  features  which  deserve 
special  consideration.  (1)  The  first  is  the  loss  of  English 
prestige. 

For  a  number  of  years  the  papers  and  magazines  of  Japan 
have  been  discussing  the  benefits  and  handicaps  of  the  Anglo- 
Japanese  alliance.  If  one  asks  why  the  interest  in  such  dis- 
cussions, the  reply  would  probably  be  about  as  follows: 

In  the  beginning  when  the  fear  of  Russian  aggression  was 
still  on  Japan,  this  alliance  kept  Russia  at  arms'  length  and 
served  as  a  solace  to  the  agitated  minds  of  the  Japanese, 
giving  them  a  feeling  of  stability  and  strength.  Now,  however, 
that  a  warmth  of  good  feeling  has  arisen  toward  Russia  and  a 
corresponding  cordiality  on  the  part  of  Russia  toward  Japan, 
neither  the  protection  nor  the  mental  solace  of  this  alliance 


204         Religious  Progress  on  the  Pacific  Slope 

are  longer  needed.  In  the  English  mind,  this  alliance  was, 
undoubtedly,  in  its  incipiency  directed  against  Russia.  It 
was  not  long,  however,  before  England's  great  rival,  Germany, 
appeared  on  the  scene  with  a  firmly  established  point  of  de- 
parture in  the  Bay  of  Kiao-chao  and  antennae  stretching  to 
every  part  of  Shantung.  Germany  appeared  in  China  as  a 
great  military  commercialism,  a  thousand  times  more  effective 
than  Russia,  and  bidding  for  Chinese  patronage.  When 
Japan  looked  on  this  effective,  absolutely  relentless  machine, 
she  could  not  resist  the  temptation  of  drawing  comparison 
between  England  and  Germany,  greatly  to  the  disparagement 
of  England. 

Then  there  arose  the  feeling  that  the  real  interests  of  the 
Far  East  would  be  better  served  by  an  alliance  with  a  country 
whose  ambitions  do  not  lie  so  directly  across  those  of  Japan. 
In  this  connection  sentiment  has  gradually  moved  now  in  the 
direction  of  Russia  and  now  in  the  direction  of  Germany. 
A  statement  by  one  of  Japan's  leading  professors  of  law  at  the 
close  of  last  year  will  show  how  the  feeling  of  friendliness 
towards  Germany  still  exists  in  spite  of  the  fact  that  she  is 
now  Japan's  enemy. 

"  There  may  come  a  time  when  Germany  will  desire  to  be 
friendly  with  Japan  again,  and  Japan  may  deem  it  wise  to 
take  advantage  of  such  a  situation;  but  knowing  the  real 
German  character  we  must  never  neglect  to  watch  her. 
It  is  a  great  loss  to  Japan  to  have  made  an  enemy  of  Germany." 
—  Dr.  Masao  Kanabe  in  the  Shin  Nihon,  September,  1915. 

So  far  as  the  Chinese  are  concerned  they  cannot  separate  their 
judgment  of  England  from  the  Opium  War  of  1842,  and  the 
Second  War  of  1860.  They  feel  that  England  has  cursed  her 
with  an  unspeakable  curse,  the  curse  of  the  "  black  smoke." 
Then,  too,  the  English  were  the  first  to  demand  and  obtain 
extraterritorial  rights  on  Chinese  soil,  and  in  the  minds  of  the 
Chinese  the  mother  of  that  disgrace  can  never  command  their 
complete  respect.     She  has  seen  England's  enormous  selfish- 


Relations  with  the  Orient  205 

ness,  not  only  in  the  opium  war  but  in  her  demands  for  con- 
cession after  concession  (Hong  Kong,  Shanghai,  Wei-hai-wei, 
Yangtse  Valley  and  enormous  railroad  concessions). 

In  addition  to  this,  England  has  at  one  time  or  another 
dominated  most  of  the  productive  branches  of  the  Chinese 
Government,  particularly  the  Chinese  customs.  Doubtless  in 
all  this,  many  valuable  lessons  have  been  taught  the  Chinese, 
yet  the  resentment  is  none  the  less  keen.  England  finds 
herself  in  difficulty.  She  may  at  any  moment  lose  the  active 
sympathy  of  both  China  and  Japan. 

(2)  The  second  outstanding  feature  of  the  present  situation 
is  the  fear  of  American  invasion. 

To  Americans  it  will  indeed  sound  like  an  exaggerated  dream 
to  speak  of  this  nation  invading  the  East  in  any  other  sense 
than  that  of  helper  and  friend.  One  of  the  outstanding 
features  of  the  present  political  situation  in  the  Far  East, 
however,  is  the  peculiar  interpretation  put  upon  what  is 
called  the  "  New  Imperiahsm  "  of  the  United  States.  By 
this  "  Imperialism  "  is  meant  the  desire  of  America  to  gain  a 
foothold  in  the  Republic  of  China  from  which  to  press  her 
claims  to  recognition  over  the  whole  Far  East.  Our  history 
is  pointed  to  as  showing  that  we  are  essentially  a  land  grabbing 
people.  In  our  war  with  Mexico  we  acquired  Texas,  and  our 
record  on  the  Rio  Grande  is  to  this  day  under  suspicion. 
We  annexed  the  Hawaiian  Islands  without  too  much  regard  for 
the  feehngs  or  interests  of  the  native  owners.  We  acquired 
the  Phihppine  Islands  by  force  of  arms.  This  stubborn  fact 
is  not  to  be  overlooked  in  spite  of  the  fact  that  later  we  paid 
Spain  twenty  million  dollars  to  reimburse  her  for  the  loss. 
Correspondence  looking  to  certain  concessions  in  the  province 
of  Fukien  in  China  takes  on  significance  when  viewed  in  the 
light  of  past  aggressions.  The  advocacy  of  the  so-called 
open  door  policy  in  China  probably  means,  say  the  Chinese, 
much  the  same  as  such  policies  have  meant  in  the  past,  — 
an    opportunity   for   further   exploitation    and    greed.     The 


206        Religious  Progress  on  the  Pacific  Slope 

attempt  on  the  part  of  our  State  department  to  "  interna- 
tionalize "  the  south  Manchuria  Railway  caused  at  the  time 
widespread  alarm.  Upon  the  basis  of  these  "  facts  "  many 
invasion  scares  have  gained  currency  and  credence.  This 
state  of  mind  has  been  greatly  stimulated  by  the  discriminatory 
treatment  of  Orientals  in  America. 

When  Admiral  Dewey's  ships  sailed  into  the  bay  of  Manila 
it  was  not  only  to  take  possession  of  those  distant  islands  in 
the  name  of  the  United  States,  but  to  set  up  a  new  standard 
of  international  honor  and  to  assume  new  and  heavy  interna- 
tional responsibilities.  That  act  made  the  United  States  a 
world  force  —  a  new  and  mighty  agency  for  righteousness  in 
the  affairs  of  men.  Yet  the  result  of  this  new  move  was  far 
from  happy.  It  created  new  suspicion  of  the  West.  The 
East  feels  keenly  that  the  West  is  seeking  to  dominate  the 
world.  An  Oriental  writer,  in  a  recent  book,  as  yet  un- 
translated, voices  this  protest:  "  If  one  race  assumes  the  right 
to  appropriate  all  the  wealth,  why  should  not  the  other  races 
feel  ill-used,  and  protest?  If  the  yellow  races  are  oppressed 
by  the  white  races  and  have  to  revolt  to  avoid  congestion, 
whose  fault  is  it  but  the  aggressors'?  " 

Thus  has  America's  prestige  waned  in  the  presence  of  mis- 
understanding and  suspicion. 

Christianity  and  the  Far  East.  Permit  me  to  characterize 
the  intellectual  Hfe  of  the  Orient  before  the  influences  of 
Europe  and  America  reached  her  quietude. 

The  fundamental  idea  in  the  civiUzation  of  the  East  was 
that  of  the  beautiful  as  opposed  to  the  utiHtarian.  This  was 
most  apparent,  it  seems  to  me,  in  the  requirements  for  holding 
office  prevailing  over  a  large  part  of  the  East.  The  Confucian 
idea,  which  ruled  China,  Korea  and  Japan  for  more  than  two 
millenniums,  was  that  the  philosophers  were  to  rule  the  state. 
In  preparation  for  their  office  they  were  to  acquaint  themselves 
with  the  deeds  and  teachings  of  the  ancients;  to  act  with 
propriety  and  speak  with  reserve;  to  know  the  forms  of  poUte 


Relations  with  the  Orient  207 

conversation  and  the  use  of  correct  style.  These  were  re- 
quired of  all  who  sought  public  advancement.  To  know  the 
classics  and  to  be  able  to  compose  a  correct  essay  in  their 
language  constituted  the  principal  matter  of  the  public 
examinations  for  office  so  long  prevailing  in  China.  It  was 
a  matter  of  culture,  classical  and  poetical,  rather  than  of 
practical  experience. 

The  forms  of  government  were  based  on  what  might  be 
termed  natural  relations.  The  evolution  of  society  had  been 
along  tribal  lines  without  the  predominating  influence  of 
wars,  as  in  the  West.  The  family  with  the  warmth,  if  also 
the  weakness,  of  paternalism  was  the  pattern  for  the  state. 
The  ruler  was  the  father,  the  people  the  children,  —  all 
brothers.  In  such  a  state  filial  piety  and  patriotism  were 
nearly  synonymous  terms.  In  China  the  added  factor,  race 
pride,  resulted  at  times  in  the  undervaluing  of  the  State,  the 
sentiment  being  decidedly  in  favor  of  the  race.  But  the 
Chinese  were  a  homogeneous  race,  while  in  Japan  and  India 
many  races  had  mingled.  In  the  intermingling  arose  what 
is  probably  a  more  stable  conception  of  society,  namely,  the 
notion  that  it  is  national  and  not  racial.  In  spite  of  these 
interesting  differences  it  is  perfectly  correct  to  characterize 
the  governments  of  the  East  in  general  as  paternal. 

Two  streams  of  religious  life,  fundamentally  different, 
flowed  across  the  East.  One  arose,  probably,  in  the  Zagross 
Mountains,  and  flowing  across  China  reached  Japan  early  in 
the  first  Christian  century.  It  was  polytheistic,  but  in  its 
worship  of  Heaven  (Tien)  showed  decided  henotheistic 
tendencies.  It  laid  emphasis  on  the  value  of  personality 
and  sought  its  highest  end  in  setting  up  an  intimate  contact 
with  the  living  reality  of  the  unseen  world.  The  other  arose 
in  the  Punjab  and  flowed  over  India,  through  China  and  Korea, 
reaching  Japan  almost  coincident  with  the  coming  of  Chinese 
learning.  This  was  pantheistic  and  impersonal.  It  was 
spiritualistic  monism.     It  sought  knowledge  of  reality  not  by 


208        Religious  Progress  on  the  Pacific  Slope 

analysis  but  by  direct  apprehension.  It  was  reflective  and 
contemplative,  seeking  its  true  life  within  the  hidden,  secret 
places  of  the  soul.  It  had  no  law  and  recognized  no  authority 
outside  of  self.  "  I  am  the  cosmos,"  was  its  motto.  It 
built  no  temples  and  worshiped  no  god.  Although  practical 
experience  caused  certain  modifications  to  be  made  in  it  —  in 
some  instances  a  return  to  the  arbitrary  henotheism  of  the 
Vedas  —  yet  on  the  whole  its  unique  influence  was  as  I  have 
described  it.  It  held  that  "  man  at  his  greatest  is  uncon- 
scious "  and  that  not  the  mechanical  externals,  but  the  un- 
conscious forces  are  the  true  test  of  civilization. 

The  moral  law  of  the  East  sought  its  sanctions  not  in  ex- 
ternal commands  but  in  warm  human  relations.  Its  morality 
was  human.  Loyalty  was  the  chief  passion;  loyalty  to  par- 
ents, to  rulers,  especially  to  the  King.  But  this  loyalty  was 
seldom  loyalty  to  principles,  —  it  was  predominantly  loyalty 
to  persons.  One  might  even  violate  principles,  some  of  which 
we  hold  sacred,  in  his  endeavor  to  be  loyal  to  persons,  and 
yet  be  held  blameless.  A  daughter  might  sacrifice  her  purity 
to  protect  the  name  or  honor  of  her  father.  Harakiri  was 
seldom  merely  suicide  but  more  commonly  an  expression  of 
the  deepest  feeling  of  loyalty  to  a  superior.  The  contractual 
notion  of  morality  prevalent  in  the  West,  when  pressed 
against  the  personal  obligations,  would  be  held  immoral, 
judged  by  the  dominant  standards  of  the  East. 

Our  commerce  came  to  the  East  with  its  motto  "  Business 
is  business "  and  our  diplomacy  with  its  high  notion  of 
responsibility,  —  respect  for  law  and  the  duty  of  public 
service.  But  to  the  Eastern  mind  it  all  seemed  mechanical 
and  unreal,  and  the  result  was  great  and  universal  confusion. 
Into  the  confused  and  confusing  disorder  of  the  Orient,  along 
with  the  high  standards  of  the  new  democracy,  has  gone  the 
message  of  Christianity.  It  was  not  at  first  welcomed;  it 
was  regarded  as  a  foreign  and  dangerous  heresy,  threatening 
the  integrity  of  empires  and  betraying  the  minds  of  men. 


Relations  with  the  Orient  209 

For  years  the  doors  of  the  nations  and  the  hearts  of  the  people 
were  closed  against  it.  The  name  of  our  Master  was  used  to 
frighten  disobedient  children,  and  as  a  stigma  of  disloyalty 
and  weakness.  "  How  long,  0  Lord,  how  long?  "  was  the 
cry  of  many  a  disheartened  messenger  of  the  cross  as  he  beheld 
the  fruitless  years  come  and  go.  Yet  at  length,  through 
many  influences,  the  doors  swung  open  and  the  kindhng  flame 
of  Christianity  began  to  light  up  the  dank  and  dismal  caverns 
of  the  hopeless  East. 

The  reflective,  pessimistic  laborers  on  the  banks  of  the 
Ganges  felt  the  thrill  of  this  new  and  living  force,  and  for  the 
moment  forgot  their  Veda  and  their  contemplation  and  arose 
with  wide-open  eyes  as  one  might  arise  from  a  troubled  dream. 

The  dwellers  in  the  valley  of  the  Yangtze  heard  the  song  of 
sublime  hope.  They,  too,  stopped  to  listen.  They  were  sur- 
prised and  thrilled.  The  Japanese,  those  masters  of  religious 
synthesis,  heard  the  story,  and  in  an  incredibly  short  time 
demonstrated  their  ability  at  least  to  add  Christ  to  their 
pantheon.  The  East  was  dazzled,  it  was  dumbfounded  by 
the  magnificence  of  our  material  civilization.  It  lost  its  way 
for  a  while  and  drifted  into  the  fog-bank  of  religious  and 
political  uncertainty.  It  feared  the  West,  which  with  one 
hand  offered  it  the  Bible  and  with  the  other  began  to  sow, 
broadcast,  the  seeds  of  distrust  and  hate.  Christianity  had 
stirred  hopes  in  their  breasts  which  there  seemed  no  likelihood 
of  realizing.  They  felt  that  they  had  been  raised  up  only  to 
be  stricken  to  the  earth  by  the  same  hands.  A  throb  of 
disappointment  could  be  felt  from  the  shores  of  the  southern 
seas  to  the  barren  wastes  of  Mongolia. 

Nine  hundred  millions  of  Orientals  turned  again  to  their 
cast-off  idols  and  filled  the  corridors  of  neglected  temples. 
But  the  mystic  tie  that  once  bound  them  to  their  past  had  been 
severed.  These  cults  no  longer  satisfied,  and  with  disap- 
pointed, bleeding  hearts  they  drank  the  cup  of  despair  to 
its  very  dregs. 


210        Religious  Progress  on  the  Pacific  Slope 

The  lulling  strains  of  Buddha's  peaceful  doctrine  were  not 
sufficient  and  the  Vedas  lost  their  power.  In  their  despair 
some  entirely  lost  their  way,  and  some  sought  revenge  against 
a  cruel  fate.  New  desires  were  created,  new  ambitions  stirred, 
but  no  finger  of  unerring  truth  pointed  the  way  to  safety  and 
to  peace.  Confusion  reigned.  That  our  rehgion,  so  peaceful 
and  so  true,  should  be  hnked  with  such  confusion  is,  indeed, 
the  scandal  of  the  world. 

At  length,  we  and  they  have  come  to  see  that  it  is  not  our 
religion  but  the  lack  of  it  that  brought  this  situation  about. 
Not  our  Christ,  but  our  Christless  leaders  must  bear  the 
burden  of  all  this  discord. 

Buddhism  gave  China  the  concepts  in  which  to  express  her 
religious  ambitions,  a  bungling  and  difficult  instrument 
with  which  the  Chinese  never  became  quite  famihar.  China 
in  turn  gave  to  Japan  her  modified  form  of  Buddhism  and  the 
pragmatic  philosophy  of  Confucius.  No  one  will  ever  be 
able  to  say  what  the  East  would  have  been  without  these. 
Certainly  it  would  have  been  immeasurably  poorer.  Now 
comes  Jesus.  He  brings  to  the  East  no  new  and  strange 
doctrines.  The  brilliancy  of  his  teaching  is  not  surprising, 
nor  the  marvel  of  his  miracles  impelhng.  He  met  the  people 
of  the  East  in  the  simphcity  of  their  daily  life;  He  touched 
the  heartstrings  of  their  highest  hopes.  His  word,  "  I  came 
not  to  destroy  but  to  fulfill,"  heartened  the  peoples  for  their 
great  tasks.  He  interpreted  to  them  the  meaning  of  their 
own  deepest  feelings  and  filled  with  new  and  wonderful  signifi- 
cance the  hopes  that  drooped  within  their  souls. 

If  it  is  true,  as  many  contend,  that  northern  Buddhism, 
the  Buddhism  of  China,  Korea  and  Japan,  in  its  significant 
personal  note  be  Christian ;  —  if  many  of  the  ancient  heresies 
of  the  East  are  indeed  the  masked  form  of  the  Master's 
teaching,  —  then  it  is  even  more  evidently  true  that  across  the 
face  of  all  modern  Far  Eastern  rehgions  the  mighty  personality 
of  God's  Only  Son  has  spread  a  benediction  of  love  and  fight. 


Relations  with  the  Orient  211 

Yonder  lies  a  confused,  bewildered,  shall  I  say,  lost  world? 
and  its  most  insistent  cry  is  not  for  more  material  civilization 
or  scientific  truth  but  for  leadership.  We  look  out  through 
our  Golden  Gate,  across  the  Pacific,  to  nine  hundred  millions 
of  faces  full  of  anxious  doubt,  to  hearts  whom  we  have  disap- 
pointed, and  if  our  ears  were  open  to  their  soul-cry  we  could 
hear  their  persistent,  pathetic  call  for  leadership. 

To  the  task  of  inspiring  that  leadership,  the  Church  of 
Christ  must  set  its  hand  with  unflinching  courage.  The 
mighty  world  task  calls  us.     *'  We  can  if  we  will." 


Chapter  XI 
RELIGIOUS  THOUGHT 

The  Rev.  John  Wright  Buckham,  D.D. 

Professor  of  Christian  Theology 

Theology  has  never  been  one  of  the  leading  products  of 
the  Pacific  Coast  —  perhaps  because  its  cash  values  are  too 
remote.  Religious  life  here  has  found  expression  in  the 
struggle  with  practical  rather  than  with  theoretical  prob- 
lems. And  yet  men  must  think  as  well  as  pray  and  work, 
and  the  religious  leaders  of  this  part  of  the  world,  like  those 
of  every  other,  have  thought  about  God  and  Christ  and 
human  life  and  the  future  and  the  great  mysteries  of  existence 
with  that  earnestness  of  spirit  which  has  entered  with  subtle 
potency  into  their  daily  lives  and  deeds. 

The  founders  of  this  institution  were  trained  men,  gradu- 
ates for  the  most  part  of  New  England  seminaries.  Of  the 
first  three  members  of  the  faculty,  one  graduated  at  Yale 
Divinity  School,  one  at  Andover  Seminary,  and  the  third  at 
that  vigorous  representative  of  New  England  theology  in 
New  York  City  —  Union  Theological  Seminary. 

The  ministers  who  led  in  the  establishment  of  the  insti- 
tution, and  those  who  later  stood  most  loyally  about  it, 
were  likewise  largely  from  New  England  seminaries.  Some 
of  them  brought  their  theological  notebooks  with  them. 
Some  years  ago  the  owner  of  one  of  these  depositories.  Rev. 
F.  B.  Perkins,  kindly  put  it  into  my  possession.  It  consists 
of  two  volumes  of  lectures  by  Prof.  Edwards  Park  —  nomen 
proedarum  et  venerahile  —  yet  how  remote  from  the  religious 
life  and  thought  of  today! 

Yet  these  pioneer  teachers  and  leaders  were  by  no  means 
servile  followers  of  any  man  or  any  system.     They  were  no 

212 


Religious  Thought  213 

man's  echo.  They  not  only  understood  what  they  taught, 
but  thought  for  themselves.  Let  us  think  of  them,  for  a 
little,  in  this  aspect. 

Dr.  Benton,  as  he  has  been  depicted  for  us,  was  a  man  of 
large  outlook,  of  copious  imagination,  a  man  also  of  "  wecht," 
as  the  Scotch  would  say,  possessed,  too,  of  remarkable  powers 
of  accommodation,  able  to  mount  a  soap-box  or  lend  dignity 
to  a  silk  hat,  to  teach  Hebrew  to  a  halting  class  of  two  or 
three  or  to  address  successfully  a  Congregational  Council  in 
London,  to  paint  the  coming  splendors  of  Cahfornia  or  to 
hold  up  the  mirror  to  his  fellows  in  so  racy  and  pungent  an 
allegory  as  "  The  California  Pilgrim,"  with  its  vivid  pictures 
of  San  Fastopolis,  Bustledom,  Bedlam  Alley,  Mr.  Bombastes, 
Jonathan  Jointstock,  Mr.  Credible  Ayr.  A  man,  by  all  witness 
and  consent,  to  be  both  admired  and  loved  and  revered. 

Professor  Mooar  was  the  mystic  of  the  Seminary.  In 
a  day  when  systemism  and  dogmatism  were  still  uppermost 
he  dropped  his  anchor  deeper  than  most  men  and  found 
firmer  holding.  A  characteristic  word  of  his  is  that  found 
near  the  close  of  his  volume  of  sermons,  "  Be  of  Good  Cheer." 
It  is  this:  "  There  is  a  security  which  sinks  its  foundations 
deeper  than  in  any  theory  of  ours."  Another  luminous  saying 
of  Professor  Mooar's  was  given  to  me  by  Professor  Howison. 
I  take  pleasure  in  repeating  it  to  my  classes.  It  is  a  definition 
of  inspiration,  and  runs  thus:  "  The  Bible  is  inspired  because 
it  is  inspiring."  Such  lucid  and  reveahng  ways  of  getting 
below  scholastic  flotsam  and  jetsam  to  abiding  and  nutritive 
truth  belong  only  to  the  rarer  minds.  Coupled  with  what 
Professor  Mooar  himself  has  called,  in  the  title  of  one  of  his 
sermons,  "  sensitive  veracity,"  this  made  him  a  thinker  whom 
our  seminary  may  well  gratefully  cherish  as  one  of  its  fixed 
stars.  Looking  back  upon  his  spiritual  maturity,  his  intel- 
lectual clarity,  his  moral  purity,  we  may  well  exclaim,  in  his 
own  self-reveahng  words:  "  What  a  charm  has  large  erudition 
often  worn  because,  having  worked  its  way  to  the  very  heart 


214        Religious  Progress  on  the  Pacific  Slope 

of  its  themes,  it  has  been  able  to  give  back  in  the  speech  of 
the  people  the  truth  with  crystalhne  clearness!" 

Doctor  Dwinell  —  of  whom,  in  Mr.  Jewett's  valuable 
biography,  we  have  the  most  complete  account  we  possess 
of  any  of  the  founders  of  the  Seminary  —  had  a  mind  of 
admirable  insight,  breadth  and  sagacity.  It  was  he  who 
carried  on  the  correspondence  with  members  of  other  de- 
nominations with  reference  to  uniting  in  the  founding  of 
the  Seminary,  Like  Dr.  Benton,  he  was  a  leader  in  public 
and  denominational  affairs.  He  could  take  the  initiative, 
as  he  did,  in  securing  better  sewerage  in  Sacramento  or  in 
promoting  the  passage  of  a  bill  estabhshing  a  Reform  School 
by  the  legislature,  or  preach  a  great  sermon  like  that  on 
"  Christianity  a  Religion  of  Expectancy,"  or  write  an  in- 
fluential paper  on  a  theological  issue,  like  "  Advance  in  the 
Type  of  Revealed  Religion." 

Doctor  Dwinell  could  not  be  called  a  progressive  —  in- 
deed he  took  a  strongly  conservative  attitude  in  the  Andover 
controversy  —  yet  his  mind  was  catholic,  alert  and  outreach- 
ing.  There  is  in  our  library  the  reprint  of  an  article  of  his, 
"  The  Mind  Back  of  Consciousness,"  published  in  the  Biblio- 
theca  Sacra  of  July,  1890,  which  is  a  singularly  acute  and  sug- 
gestive study  of  one  of  the  foremost  subjects  now  engaging  the 
attention  of  philosophy  and  psychology.  I  am  sure  I  cannot 
better  pursue  my  theme  than  by  giving  a  brief  account  of 
this  remarkable  study. 

The  hypothesis  of  the  paper  is  "  that  the  spiritual  prin- 
ciple in  man  —  the  mind,  or  the  soul  —  is  only  imperfectly 
in  possession  of  the  organs,  and  is  able  to  report  only  a  small 
part  of  its  own  activity  in  consciousness."  This  hypothesis, 
now  so  familiar,  had  doubtless  been  propounded  long  before 
it  was  thus  succinctly  put  forth  by  Dr.  Dwinell,  though  he 
was  evidently  not  acquainted  with  any  thoroughgoing  state- 
ment of  it.  It  must  be  remembered  that  this  was  in  1890, 
twelve  years  before  James'  "  Varieties  "  appeared  and  when 


Professob   Israel   Eoson    Dwinell,   D.U. 


Religious  Thought  215 

the  proceedings  of  the  Society  of  Psychical  Research  had  re- 
ceived but  little  attention.  The  writer  then  goes  on  to  show  how 
consonant  this  theory  is  with  the  phenomena  of  creative  art, 
of  literary  inspiration,  of  the  extraordinary  feats  of  memory, 
with  the  findings  also  of  moral  insight  and  of  pure  reason, 
"  If  it  (i.e.,  the  mind  back  of  consciousness)  is  a  growth,"  he 
argues,  "  it  is  the  growth  of  a  supernatural  germ  from  a  region 
of  pure  reason.  If  not  a  growth,  might  it  not  be  regarded  as  the 
whisperings,  the  best  possible  in  dull  human  ears,  which 
open  only  at  the  touch  of  experience,  whisperings  of  the  higher 
mind  within  —  the  mysterious  mind  —  the  mind  back  of 
the  mind  —  that  can  only  here  and  there  find  one  to  whom  it 
can  utter  the  full,  ringing,  transcendent  message."  After 
examining  the  various  theories  to  explain  these  phenomena, 
the  author  concludes: 

"  It  is  this  that,  ever  sitting  at  its  enduring  loom,  weaves  for 
us  the  web  of  conscious  unchanging  personality  and  conscious 
unchanging  identity,  not  out  of  the  floating,  disconnected, 
gossamer  flocks  of  our  swift  vanishing  states  of  consciousness, 
but,  using  these  as  woof  and  the  objects  of  its  own  eagle- 
eyed  changeless  insight  as  warp,  it  weaves  its  web,  and  hangs 
it  where  we  can  see  it  or  feel  it.  This  is  the  center  and  head  of 
the  regnant  personality,  the  support  and  bond  of  the  transient 
experiences  and  untrustworthy  powers;  surviving  all  catas- 
trophies,  continuing  through  all  changes,  seeing  the  cor- 
poreal, intellectual,  moral  stages  come  and  go,  but  itself 
always  the  imperturbable,  regal,  inscrutable,  immortal, 
rational  Ego." 

Here  is  a  striking  anticipation,  by  this  observing  and 
thoughtful  Pacific  theologian,  of  the  familiar  declaration 
of  William  James  in  his  well-known  essay,  "  The  Energies  of 
Men,"  to  the  effect  that  men  "  habitually  use  only  a  small 
part  of  the  powers  which  they  actually  possess  and  which 
they  might  use  under  appropriate  conditions." 

In  1892  there  came  to  the  chair  of  Systematic  Theology 


216        Religious  Progress  on  the  Pacific  Slope 

in  this  school  a  teacher  whose  contribution  to  theological 
literature  cannot  be  overlooked  in  any  survey  of  this  kind. 
This  is  neither  the  time  nor  place  for  a  careful  estimate  of 
the  yet  unfinished  work  of  Prof.  Frank  Hugh  Foster.  But 
I  cannot  go  on  without  paying  tribute  to  the  sincere,  scholarly 
and  valuable  work  which  he  has  accomplished,  both  here  and 
elsewhere.  Professor  Foster  was,  while  in  this  seminary,  one 
of  the  conspicuous  exponents  and  defenders  of  the  New  Eng- 
land theology  and  has  since  become  its  acknowledged  leading 
historian.  His  transition  from  interpreter  and  advocate  of 
that  theology  to  historian  and  chronicler  of  its  collapse,  forms 
one  of  the  most  dramatic  chapters  in  the  recent  history  of  a 
science  that  is  not  bristling  with  dramatic  incidents.  There 
is  a  very  significant  book  by  Professor  Foster  which  to  my 
mind  throws  no  little  Hght,  not  only  upon  his  own  repudiation 
of  the  old  theology,  but  upon  its  general  decadence,  viz.,  the 
volume  of  Stone  Lectures  for  1900,  entitled,  "  Christian  Life 
and  Theology."  The  introductory  lecture  of  this  series  is,  in 
my  judgment,  one  of  the  best  and  clearest  statements  yet 
formulated  of  the  basis  of  Christian  theology  in  Christian 
experience  —  a  principle  which  necessarily  does  away  with 
the  very  principle  of  dogmatism.  Unhappily,  Professor  Fos- 
ter failed  to  carry  out  in  the  discussion  that  follows  the 
principle  that  he  had  laid  down;  but  the  seed  of  a  new  theo- 
logical renaissance  is  there,  ready  to  break  the  crust  of  the 
New  England  theology  and  every  other  bondage  of  past  or 
present. 

Dr.  McLean's  contribution  to  the  religious  thought  of 
the  Seminary  and  of  the  Coast  was  that  of  a  man  who  touched 
human  life  at  many  points  and  always  wisely  and  warmly  and 
helpfully.  While  he  was  not  primarily  a  thinker,  he  thought 
constructively  and  pointedly,  —  a  maker  of  singularly  happy 
and  homely  metaphors,  a  sagacious  discerner  and  appraiser 
of  the  best  in  advancing  thought.  In  the  day  when  evolution 
was  receiving  its  most  violent  and  vain  attacks  in  the  pulpit 


Religious  Thought  217 

and  religious  press,  he  saw  its  harmony  with  rehgious  truths 
and  declared:  "  Revelation  and  evolution  stand  at  one." 
Happy  the  man  —  and  helpful  —  who,  like  Dr.  McLean, 
could  make  the  transition  from  the  old  to  the  new  order  of 
thought,  bringing  with  him  the  gold  and  frankincense  and 
myrrh  of  his  earlier  faith. 

I  cannot  close  this  brief  review  of  the  contribution  of 
the  seminary  to  religious  thought  without  a  word  of  tribute 
to  the  work  of  my  beloved  colleague.  Prof.  George  DeWitt 
Castor,  who  was  taken  from  us  so  suddenly  and  sadly.  Pro- 
fessor Castor  was  a  genuine  scholar.  His  thesis  for  the  Doctor- 
ate of  Philosophy  on  "  The  Non-Markan  Element  in  Luke," 
which,  by  the  courtesy  of  the  Castor  family,  will  soon  be  pub- 
lished through  the  Chicago  University  Press  as  our  semi- 
centennial publication,  is  the  finest  piece  of  technical  scholar- 
ship as  yet  put  forth  by  this  institution  and  will  make  a  note- 
worthy addition  to  the  modest  contribution  to  theological 
literature  made  by  our  seminary.  While  the  chief  function 
of  an  institution  like  this  is  teaching,  it  has  also,  as  you  will 
recognize,  a  distinct  obhgation  toward  the  continuity  and 
enlargement  of  religious  thought  in  the  world  at  large,  and 
the  collection  of  volumes  and  pamphlets  which  we  have 
brought  together  for  this  occasion  will  show  that  it  has  not 
been  wholly  fruitless  in  this  direction. 

Professor  Castor  was  not  only  a  penetrative  and  well- 
equipped  technical  scholar  but  also  a  very  wise  and  win- 
ning teacher  and  interpreter  of  spiritual  truth,  as  his  inaugura- 
tion address  and  his  articles  in  the  Biblical  World  and  else- 
where evince.  Long  may  his  fine  intelligence  and  noble  spirit 
abide  with  us  in  this  institution! 

I  had  hoped  in  this  review  to  attempt  a  survey  not  only 
of  the  theology  of  our  institution  but  of  theological  thought  of 
the  Coast  in  general,  for  it  would  be  presumptuous  to  assume 
that  all  the  theology  of  the  region  flourished  here.  But  the 
limitations  not  only  of  the  paper,  but  of  my  own  knowledge, 


218        Religious  Progress  on  the  Pacific  Slope 

forbid  this.  It  is  both  a  duty  and  a  privilege,  however,  to 
acknowledge  the  stimulus  and  enlargement  which  have  come 
to  religious  thought  not  only  from  the  seminaries  but  also 
from  the  men  of  constructive  theological  thought  in  the 
pulpits.  I  trust  it  will  not  be  invidious  if  I  mention  one  name 
as  illustrative  of  this  contribution  —  that  of  Dr.  James  M. 
Campbell,  a  most  affluent  and  helpful  contributor  to  theologi- 
cal thought,  who  has  done  his  work  where  the  serenity  and 
sunshine  of  our  Pacific  climate  have  lent  to  the  stern  integrity 
of  the  Scotch  mind  unwonted  sweetness  and  light. 

The  universities  and  colleges,  too,  have  done  much,  not 
only  to  broaden  the  horizon  of  religious  thinking  but  also  to 
enrich  its  content  —  although  their  influence  has  also  been  in 
part  contra-theological.  In  this  service  the  University  of 
California  has  naturally  done  most.  Two  names  in  especial 
stand  out  above  all  others.  The  first  is  that  of  Joseph  Le 
Conte,  whose  contribution  to  the  theology  of  evolution  is 
universally  valued.  The  second  is  that  of  Professor  Howison. 
It  will  be  many  years  before  theology  realizes  fully  its  in- 
debtedness to  George  Holmes  Howison,  whose  contribution  to 
religious  thought  I  have  elsewhere  endeavored  to  point  out. 
It  may  well  be  a  source  of  gratification  to  this  institution  that 
the  chapter  on  "  The  Harmony  of  Determinism  and  Free- 
dom," one  of  the  most  masterly  discussions  in  The  Limits 
of  Evolution,  consists  of  a  paper  read  before  the  Theological 
Society  of  the  Pacific  Seminary,  April  5,  1898.  May  the 
friendliness  of  Philosophy  and  Theology  thus  established 
here  never  be  broken!  In  an  address  given  before  our  Uni- 
versity, Charles  Kingsley  once  said  that  "if  he  could  see  a 
school  of  Berkeleyan  philosophy  founded  on  this  side  of  the 
continent,  he  would  think  that  California  had  done  a  great 
deal  for  the  human  race."  Such  a  school  has  been  founded 
here  by  Professor  Howison  —  in  spirit,  at  least,  Berkeleyan. 

Having  completed  our  brief  retrospect,  let  us  now  turn  to 
the  prospect.     What  of  the  future  of  theology  on  this  coast? 


Religious  Thought  219 

I  think  I  may  assume  —  though  against  the  clamor  of 
not  a  few  today  —  that  there  will  continue  to  be  a  theology, 
here  as  elsewhere.  I  do  not  understand  that  in  ehminating 
"  theological  "  from  the  name  of  our  institution  we  have 
thereby  consigned  theology  to  innocuous  desuetude.  If  so, 
I  can  foresee  for  ourselves  only  atrophy  of  brain  and  ultimate 
paralysis  of  activity.  Men  are  made  to  think,  and  think 
they  will,  and  if  their  thought  becomes  thin  or  erratic  or 
irrational,  life  will  lose  its  meaning  and  men  will  be  only  as 
"  dumb  driven  cattle."  We  must  think,  and  think  about 
the  greatest  and  deepest  and  most  vital  issues  of  life  —  and 
such  thought  is  theology. 

With  the  present  emancipating  emphasis  upon  applied 
Christianity,  I  am  in  most  thorough  accord  —  an  advocate 
indeed  —  provided  it  does  not  seek  to  set  aside  rehgious 
thinking.  If  it  does  that  it  will  work  its  own  ruin  as  well 
as  that  of  theology.  There  can  be  no  School  of  Rehgion 
without  rehgious  thought.     Upon  that  I  think  we  are  agreed. 

Let  us  ask  ourselves,  then,  what  kind  of  a  theology  this 
nobly-endowed,  "  God-blessed,  sun-bathed  Pacific  Slope  " 
needs.  That  is  quite  another  from  the  question,  what  kind 
of  a  theology  it  will  have.  For  that  depends  upon  its  re- 
ligious hfe  —  since  out  of  the  life  the  thought  flows.  But 
without  forgetting  this,  let  us  ask  what  kind  of  a  theology 
is  adapted  to  command  the  allegiance  and  mould  the  higher 
life  of  this  alert,  diverse,  forward-looking  civilization. 

I  think  we  should  agree,  in  the  first  place,  that  none  but 
a  broadly  comprehensive  and  tolerant  theology  has  any  claim 
or  place  upon  this  great  Pacific  Slope  domain.  We  should  be 
recreant  to  the  wider  revelation  of  God,  if  looking  out  toward 
the  peoples  of  the  Orient  —  to  whom  God  has  disclosed 
Himself,  though,  as  we  think,  less  clearly  than  to  us  —  we 
should  cherish  exclusive,  confining  conceptions  of  God  or 
man,  tainted  with  any  prejudice  of  race  or  rehgion  or  sect. 
For  here  upon  this  Coast  even  more  intimately  than  elsewhere 


220        Religious  Progress  on  the  Pacific  Slope 

in  this  country  —  and  more  especially  here  in  this  great  center 
of  education  —  the  minds  of  the  East  and  the  minds  of  the 
West  are  to  meet  and  mingle  and  adjust  themselves  to  one 
another,  either  in  conflict  or  in  harmony,  either  in  hostility  or 
in  helpfulness. 

This  adjustment  does  not  mean,  in  my  judgment,  religious 
amalgamation.  Nor  do  I  think  that  it  means  eclecticism. 
My  faith  in  the  rehgion  of  Jesus  Christ  as  the  universal  relig- 
ion, adapted  as  none  other  is  to  the  needs  of  the  whole  world, 
leads  me  to  hope  that  it  will  in  time  win  the  willing  adherence 
of  all  peoples.  But  just  because  Christianity  is  a  world 
religion,  and  because  it  sprang  from  the  Orient,  there  is  reason 
to  expect  that  the  Orient  has  yet  a  power  of  understanding  it 
and  interpreting  it  that  will  greatly  enrich  our  vigorous  but 
limited  Occidental  theology.  When  the  devotion  and  pro- 
fundity of  India's  long  quest  of  truth,  the  ethical  and  social 
integrity  of  China,  and  the  alert,  imaginative  mysticism  of 
Japan  are  poured  into  the  vessels  of  Christianity,  we  shall 
have  wine  worthy  indeed  of  the  Bridegroom.  But  that  may 
not  be  unless  the  West  is  large  enough  of  mind  and  heart  to 
commend  and  convey  a  Christianity  sufficiently  inclusive 
and  brotherly  to  win  and  hold  the  Oriental  mind.  That  will 
mean  a  missionary  Christianity,  but  not  a  proselyting 
Christianity,  a  comprehensive  but  not  a  compromising  Chris- 
tianity. I  cannot  but  think  too  that  the  only  theology  con- 
vincing enough  and  vital  enough  to  win  the  world  is  a 
Christocentric  theology. 

The  seal  of  our  School  of  Religion  is  to  me  the  beautiful 
and  inspiring  symbol  of  what  should  be  the  very  heart  and 
center  of  our  institution,  both  in  its  thinking  and  in  its  living. 
It  is  from  the  famous  painting  on  the  walls  of  one  of  the 
Roman  catacombs  —  the  earliest  representation  of  Christ  we 
have  in  Christian  art,  far  earlier  than  the  teaching  Christ  or 
the  crucified  Christ  —  i.e.,  the  Shepherd  Christ.  The  strong 
youthful  Christ  is  carrying  a  lamb,  or  perchance  a  kid,  upon 


Religious  Thought  221 

his  shoulders.  How  nobly  and  winsomely  he  stands!  Christ 
the  Saviour,  the  Victor,  the  Redeemer.  The  cross  is  not  ex- 
cluded or  forgotten.  It  is  immanent  in  the  whole  conception 
—  as  it  must  be  in  any  true  conception  of  Christ  —  but  it  is 
behind  him.  He  has  come  from  it  and  from  the  grave,  "  that 
they  may  have  hfe  and  have  it  more  abundantly."  He  is  the 
Living  Christ. 

By  making  this  Christ  the  center  of  its  thinking  and  of  its 
life  and  by  presenting  him  to  men  in  all  his  radiant  compassion, 
his  victorious  might  —  the  might  of  love  —  and  his  reveahng 
truth,  "  in  whom  are  hid  all  the  treasures  of  wisdom  and 
knowledge  "  and  all  the  resources  of  moral  conquest  and  serene 
and  hallowing  strength  —  this  School  can  become  a  center  of 
radiating  and  redeeming  life  —  and,  in  my  judgment,  in  this 
way  alone. 

Again,  the  religious  thought  that  will  command  and  in- 
spire the  hfe  of  this  Pacific  domain  must  be  intensely  vital. 
Swift  and  strong  flow  the  tides  of  human  life  on  this  Coast, 
and  ever  swifter  and  stronger.  Life  was  never  so  rich  and 
varied  and  fascinating  in  its  appeal  as  under  the  blue  skies 
and  upon  the  flower-strewn  soil  of  this  land,  where  summer 
shps  all  unaware  into  autumn  and  autumn  into  spring,  a  land 
where  it  is  always  afternoon,  or  morning  —  which?  —  for 
there  is  no  night  here,  —  a  land  where,  as  on  Shakespeare's 
enchanted  isle, 

"  Nimbly  and  sweetly  the  air  doth  commend  itself  unto  the  senses." 

Forgive  me  if  the  lure  of  it  all  steals  even  into  a  paper 
on  theology.  I  am  not  promoting  but  testifying  —  as  others 
of  you  have  done  so  spontaneously  in  your  papers.  Well,  the 
import  of  it  all  is  this  —  and  it  should  not  be  missed  —  that 
here  Christianity  must  compete  with  all  the  most  varied  and 
appealing  interests  of  life.  Compete,  do  I  say?  No,  it  must 
exceed  them  all  and  bring  them  into  captivity  to  Christ. 
Christianity  must  itself  be  so  fair  and  strong  and  glorious 


222        Religious  Progress  on  the  Pacific  Slope 

that  without  it  all  these  outer  things  will  seem  as  hollow 
shams  and  by  it  become  at  once  hallowed  and  enhanced,  re- 
strained and  enlarged,  guided  and  fulfilled. 

Let  us  not  be  blind  to  our  perils!  This  civilization  of 
ours  will  afford,  is  even  now  affording,  a  searching  test  of 
the  vital  power  of  Christianity.  A  new  paganism,  as  subtle 
and  seductive  as  the  world  has  ever  seen,  is  singing  its  siren 
song  in  our  ears.  Strong  hands,  and  delicate,  are  straining 
hard  to  wrest  Beauty  away  from  Truth  and  Duty.  Wild 
tongues  are  loosed  "  that  have  not  Thee  in  awe."  Sciences 
that  see  no  further  than  the  electron  and  the  microbe  and 
philosophies  that  reduce  man  to  a  mechanism  or  an  economic 
unit,  are  saying  "  Earth  to  earth,  ashes  to  ashes,  dust  to  dust," 
over  the  grave  of  human  ideals  that  is  a  grave  indeed.  Have 
we  a  truth  winsome  and  potent  enough  to  hold  Beauty  to  its 
higher  loyalties  and  nobler  ends,  to  quell  immorality  and  put 
vice  to  rout,  to  lend  to  Science  and  Philosophy  that  completing 
truth  without  which  the  one  leads  only  to  materialism  and 
the  other  only  to  perplexity?  We  are  moving  rapidly 
toward  the  new  Democracy.  It  is  well.  But  was  it  not 
Mazzini  who  said,  "  Democracy  without  God  is  hell  "? 

It  goes  almost  without  saying  —  and  yet  I  fear  that  it 
needs  to  be  added  —  that  a  theology  that  will  compel  the 
respect  and  allegiance  of  the  free  and  open-hearted  people 
of  this  land  must  also  be  entirely  freed  from  dogmatism  and 
sectarianism.  It  is  true  that  within  certain  circles  even  on 
these  unshackled  shores  there  seems  to  be  a  good  deal  of 
theological  sectarianism,  not  to  say  obscurantism.  How  it 
can  live  under  these  skies  and  in  this  atmosphere,  and  so  far 
from  the  ancient  seats  of  its  origin,  it  is  very  difficult  to  see. 
We  have  happily  had  but  three  of  these  cases  of  heresy  hunting 
of  which  I  am  aware  among  the  seminaries  of  our  coast. 
May  the  latest  be  the  last! 

I  am  not  spealdng  now  of  conservatism.  Conservatism 
is  an  attitude  of  mind  that  holds  back  from  crude  neologisms 


Religious  Thought  223 

and  unrestrained  speculations.  As  such  it  has  an  honorable 
and  essential  office  to  fulfill  in  these  days  of  rash  and  irreverent 
venturesomeness.  But  conservatism  is  one  thing  and  ob- 
scurantism is  another.  "  He  is  the  true  conservative  who 
lops  the  moldered  branch  away,"  as  Tennyson  wrote.  There 
must  be  progress  or  there  will  soon  be  nothing  to  conserve. 
For  growth  is  essential  to  preservation  wherever  there  is 
advancing  life.  And  it  is  inconceivable  that  a  theology  that 
faces  only  backward  or  that  blinks  confusedly  in  the  face  of 
a  rising  sun  should  win  our  civilization. 

Apart  from  all  the  inconsequential  crowing  of  vain  cockerels 
who  assume  the  credit  of  bringing  as  well  as  heralding  light, 
is  it  not  true  —  is  it  not  beyond  all  fear  and  doubt  —  that  a 
new  day  has  dawned  in  the  world  of  religious  thought?  One 
must  see  it  who  lifts  his  eyes  —  to  use  the  figure  of  a  California 
poet  —  from  the  dim  page  and  the  fast  flickering  lamp  to  the 
dawn  that  breaks  over  the  Eastern  hills. 

And  yet  it  is  not  progressiveness  which  seems  to  me  the 

highest  mark  of  a  theology  which  will  win  its  way  back  to 

power,  but  something  more  deep-reaching  and  fundamental. 

The  one  word  which,  better  perhaps  than  any  other,  expresses 

the  essential  quality  of  a  really  great  theology  is  experience. 

Experience  is  the  chief  reality  of  Christian  life,  but  it  is  not 

the  only  necessity.     There  must  be  a  theology  of  experience 

—  clear,  vigorous,  enlightening,  as  well  as  devout  and  humane. 

"  So  many  gods,  so  many  creeds, 
So  many  paths  that  wind  and  wind." 

Yes,  but  the  solution  of  the  perplexity  is  not  "  just  to  be 
kind,"  but  to  find  the  ways  that  do  not  wind  but  lead  straight 
to  the  heart  of  truth.     For  be  sure  kindness  and  justice  — 
that  is  greater  than  kindness  —  dwell  hard  by  truth. 

Such  a  theology  alone  can  be  a  uniting  theology,  and  thus 
a  theology  for  the  reconstruction  of  our  shattered  twentieth 
century  civilization.  For  though  no  sound  of  gun,  or  shriek  of 
shell  or  groan  of  wounded  and  dying  reaches  our  far  westerri 


224        Religious  Progress  on  the  Pacific  Slope 

slope,  we  too  must  suffer  and  must  help  share  the  tasks  of 
reconstructing  the  social  order.  It  is  a  time  to  rediscover  and 
reinterpret  the  truths  that  cannot  be  shaken,  the  deep-down 
essentials  of  Christian  thinking.  God  forgive  us  if  we  should 
ever  again  resume  our  bickering  over  non-essentials  while  the 
great  verities  are  hidden  in  the  smoke  of  theological  conflict 
and  misunderstanding!  If  there  is  one  thing  that  past  and 
present  teach  us,  it  is  to  lay  hold  of  the  truths  that  issue  in 
righteousness  and  unity. 

If  this  School  of  Religion  teach  and  preach  such  a 
theology  —  non-scholastic,  non-sectarian,  undogmatic,  irenic, 
spiritual,  Christocentric,  experiential,  —  and  apply  it  to 
life,  it  will  serve  well,  and  as  God  calls  it  to  serve,  the  pulsing, 
promising,  expanding  but  spiritually  needy  and  restless  life 
of  this  fair  land  that  God  has  given  us  to  love  and  labor  for. 

Is  it  a  figment  of  the  imagination  that  the  voices  of  the 
founders  speak  to  us  in  this  closing  day  of  this  eventful 
week,  calling  us  to  go  forward  not  only  into  a  larger  service  but 
into  a  nobler,  deeper  —  though  simpler  —  theology,  centered 
in  the  Eternal  and  Living  Christ? 


PART  III 

THE  SEMI-CENTENNIAL  OF  PACIFIC  THEOLOGICAL 

SEMINARY 


Chapter  XII 
A  HISTORICAL  SKETCH 

The  Rev.  Samuel  Charles   Patterson,  B.D. 

Pastor  of  the  North  Congregational  Church,  Berkeley 

"  Better  fifty  years  of  Europe  than  a  cycle  of  Cathay," 
sang  Tennyson,  and  Europe  said  amen.  A  Pacific  Coast 
American  might  as  truthfully  sing,  "  Better  fifty  years  of 
California  than  a  cycle  of  the  world,"  for  fifty  years  of  Cau- 
casian dominion  has  changed  the  face  of  the  land.  Cities, 
towns  and  villages  stand  where  once  had  been  but  desert. 
We  gather  to  celebrate  the  semi-centennial  of  an  educational 
institution,  the  first  School  of  the  Prophets  west  of  the  Great 
Lakes.  It  was  founded  when  California  was  only  sixteen  years 
of  age,  and  before  she  had  that  vital  touch  with  her  sister 
states  made  possible  by  rails  of  steel  and  the  iron  horse. 
News  that  gold  was  discovered  in  California  reached  the  world 
in  1849,  and  immediately  a  most  remarkable  voluntary  human 
invasion  began.  To  California  came  the  strongest,  the  boldest 
and  the  most  enterprising  of  the  sons  of  men;  over  the  plains, 
across  the  isthmus  and  around  Cape  Horn  they  came  in  seem- 
ingly unending  streams,  to  find  the  gold  with  which  rumor  had 
bottomed  the  streams  and  veined  the  mountains  of  the  new 
El  Dorado.  The  marvel  of  this  movement  may  yet  cause  a 
poet  to  compose  an  epic  in  which  the  adventures  of  these 
argonauts  will  rival  those  of  Jason  and  his  companions. 
All  who  came  were  not  gold-seekers;  some  were  seekers  of 
men's  souls.  The  annals  of  denominations  which  early  began 
religious  work  reveal  the  names  of  many  who  spurned  the 
opportunity  to  enrich  themselves  materially  in  order  to  gain 
spiritual  riches.  Congregationalism  also  sent  many  of  these 
pioneers  of  the  Gospel:  Hunt,  Willey,  Benton,  Warren,  Pond, 

227 


228        Religious  Progress  on  the  Pacific  Slope 

Durant,  Hale,  Frear  and  others.  These  men  early  identified 
themselves  with  the  moral  and  educational  forces  in  the  new 
state  and  sought  to  protect  the  home  and  foster  the  young 
life.  Willey  made  the  opening  prayer  of  the  Constitutional 
Convention  which  met  in  Monterey  in  1850.  J.  A.  Benton 
preached  the  first  Thanksgiving  sermon  in  California  on 
Thursday,  November  30,  1850.  His  theme:  "California  as 
She  was,  as  She  is,  and  as  She  Will  be,"  reveals  that  the 
Golden  State  had  laid  its  persuading  hand  upon  his  heart  and 
won  it.  T.  Dwight  Hunt  was  chaplain  of  San  Francisco, 
preaching  in  the  little  schoolhouse  which  stood  on  Portsmouth 
Square,  in  which  building  he  later  led  in  organizing  the  First 
Congregational  Church,  July  29,  1849.  It  was  the  Rev. 
Samuel  H.  Willey  who,  some  time  later,  gathered  the  children 
of  San  Francisco  together  and  marched  them  at  the  busiest 
hour  of  the  day  through  the  business  section  to  demonstrate 
to  the  inhabitants  the  need  of  public  schools.  The  schools 
were  organized.  This  same  man,  with  others,  soon  felt  the 
need  of  higher  institutions  of  learning,  academies  and  college, 
and  because  of  their  devotion,  the  College  of  California  was 
founded,  which  in  time  became  the  University  of  California. 
The  vision  of  these  men  was  akin  to  that  of  their  spiritual 
forefathers,  the  Puritans,  who  were  no  sooner  settled  in  the 
new  world  than  they  desired  to  found  schools  and  a  college, 
the  latter  to  supply  educated  men  to  become  their  pastors 
and  rehgious  leaders.  This  same  desire  underlay  the  founding 
of  the  College  of  California.  It  is  not  within  the  scope  of 
this  sketch  to  dwell  upon  that  phase  of  our  State's  intellectual 
development;  if  it  were,  a  story  of  heroic  action  could  be 
told.  My  particular  theme  deals  with  another  phase. 
But  it  is  necessary  to  touch  this  in  order  to  show  the 
fiber  of  the  men  who  created  the  Pacific  Theological 
Seminary. 

The  Minutes  of  the  first  meeting  of  the  General  Association 
of  Congregational  Churches  of  CaUfornia,  held  in  Sacramento, 


A  Historical  Sketch  229 

October  7,  1857,  contain  a  report  of  a  "  Committee  on 
Destitution  and  Supplies,"  which  sets  forth  the  need  of  pas- 
tors to  take  charge  of  existing  churches  and  to  organize  new- 
ones  in  needy  places.  The  result  was  an  appeal  to  the  Ameri- 
can Home  Missionary  Society  in  New  York  City  to  send  at 
least  five  men  as  soon  as  possible.  The  records  of  the  next 
annual  meeting  contain  the  following  report:  "  Your  Com- 
mittee beg  leave  to  report  as  follows :  The  distance  stretching 
between  us  and  the  theological  institutions  of  the  East  renders 
it  necessary  that  we  take  measures  for  the  rearing  of  a  ministry 
of  our  own.  It  is  as  essential  now  and  here,  as  when  our 
forefathers  upon  the  eastern  slope  of  the  continent  were  im- 
pressed with  the  same  conviction  and  at  once  initiated  mea- 
sures to  secure  this  end,  as  the  necessary  means  to  self-preser- 
vation of  the  churches.  We  have  already  done  much  towards 
founding  a  college  for  the  education  of  youth,  but  there  is 
now  obvious  an  unswerving  responsibility  resting  upon  the 
church,  to  bring  forth  her  sons  and  educate  them  for  the 
work  of  Christ.  There  are  many  strong  inducements  in  this 
country  to  draw  young  men  away  from  the  sacred  profession, 
the  charms  of  adventure  and  the  attractions  of  wealth;  un- 
less we  watch  their  growth  with  prayer  our  college  will  stand 
empty  and  our  pulpits,  one  after  another,  deserted  by  their 
present  incumbents,  will  have  none  to  occupy  them,  except 
as  imported  from  a  distant  land.  We  want  men  grown  on 
this  soil.  All  that  are  here  have  come  at  great  expense, 
borne  mainly  by  a  society  holding  the  funds  of  the  churches  of 
the  East;  we  cannot  expect  this  fostering  care  to  be  continued 
many  years.  Besides,  it  is  the  work  of  the  church  to  perpetu- 
ate herself,  by  rearing  her  own  ministry  continually,  as  much 
as  it  is  for  a  tree  to  bear  its  seed,  an  oak  to  have  its  acorns. 
So  every  church  should  be  watching  her  sons,  and  cherishing 
them,  for  the  great  vocation.  Youth  of  talent  may  be  con- 
secrated at  her  altar,  who  are  children  of  poverty;  they 
should  now  be  considered  as  standing  in  new  relationships  — 


230        Religious  Progress  on  the  Pacific  Slope 

belonging  to  the  family  of  the  church,  as  to  their  own  paternal 
roof.  They  should  be  made  to  feel  so.  They  are  to  bear  our 
interests,  our  dearest,  livehest  interests,  into  the  future;  the 
hopes  of  the  kingdom  of  heaven  on  earth;  we  should  not 
leave  them  to  the  precarious  fortune  of  a  single  family,  where, 
instead  of  receiving  help,  they  may  be  depended  upon  for 
support;  but  we  should  know  their  character,  and  when 
satisfied  of  their  fitness,  should  cherish  the  Holy  Spirit  within 
them,  and  render  them  the  assistance  which  they  need.  They 
should  feel  that  the  church  is  their  mother  in  a  new  and  spiri- 
tual sense,  from  whose  warm  hand  they  receive  continual  sup- 
plies, and  from  whose  heart  they  derive  the  nutriment  of 
everlasting  hfe.  Therefore:  Resolved,  that  we  consider  it 
among  the  first  duties  of  the  different  churches  to  look  out 
young  men  for  the  ministry,  inspire  them  with  the  idea,  and 
render  them  such  assistance  in  obtaining  education,  as  the 
circumstances  demand  and  their  best  interests  require." 
Signed  by  E.  S.  Lacy,  Martin  Kellogg  and  S.  Babson.  In  a 
report  of  a  Committee  on  Education  presented  by  its  chair- 
man. Rev.  W.  C.  Pond,  to  the  General  Association  of  Congrega- 
tional Churches  at  its  annual  meeting  in  1864,  the  following 
occurs:  "  The  time  is  coming,  and  now  is,  when  a  theological 
seminary  should  be  a  matter  of  definite  consideration  with 
reference  to  practical  action.  We  cannot  but  anticipate  a 
time  when  the  ministry  of  this  Coast  must  be  raised  up  upon 
this  Coast;  and  we  should  be  preparing  to  meet  its  demand 
upon  us  now."  This  stirred  the  body  to  action,  and  the  Bay 
Association  was  made  a  standing  committee  to  consider  the 
matter.  The  Association  reported  to  the  General  Association 
in  1865,  through  a  sub-committee  composed  of  the  Revs. 
I.  E.  Dwinell  and  George  Mooar  and  J.  M.  Haven,  Esq. 
This  report  is  lengthy  and  I  cannot  undertake  to  present  it 
here,  but  I  must  quote  one  paragraph  which  reveals  the  spirit 
of  the  men:  "  The  time  has  not  yet  come,  and  will  not  come 
for  many  years,  when  any  one  denomination  on  this  Coast 


A   Historical  Sketch  231 

can  take  this  great  work  upon  itself,  and  found  such  an  institu- 
tion alone.  To  provide  one  set  of  buildings,  one  corps  of 
professors,  such  as  would  meet  the  wants  of  the  students  and 
the  churches,  and  shut  up  the  churches  for  ministers  to  our  own 
coast,  is  all  that  the  resources  of  the  State  would  justify  us  in 
attempting,  and  they  would  justify  us  in  undertaking  this. 
To  aim  at  more  would  be  sectarian  madness  and  failure.  By 
far  the  largest,  and  certainly  the  most  important  part  of 
seminary  training  is  common  to  all  the  denominations.  If 
only  this  should  be  taught,  and  the  elements  in  which  Evan- 
gehcal  Christians  differ  should  be  wholly  omitted,  it  would  be 
no  such  serious  loss  that  it  could  not  be  easily  made  up  by  a 
Httle  private  denominational  study  before  entering  upon  the 
work  of  the  ministry.  Or  it  might  be  an  easy  matter  to  have 
each  of  the  co-operating  denominations  provide  for  the  de- 
livery of  a  special  course  of  lectures  to  its  own  students,  or  to 
all  the  class,  to  protect  its  own  interests  in  the  institution." 
The  report  closed  with  a  recommendation  as  follows:  "  The 
General  Association  shall  designate  three  men  as  a  Theological 
Committee,  to  act  for  three  years."  This  was  adopted  and 
the  committee  was  later  enlarged  to  five,  composed  as  follows : 
Revs.  I.  E.  Dwinell,  D.D.,  E.  G.  Beckwith,  W.  C.  Pond,  and 
Deacons  T.  B.  Bigelow  and  Jacob  Bacon.  This  committee 
wrote,  according  to  instruction,  to  representatives  of  the 
Baptist,  EpiscopaUan,  Methodist  Episcopal,  New  and  Old 
School  Presbyterian  bodies,  asking  for  co-operation.  Four  re- 
sponded but  none  wished  to  cooperate,  but  before  the  first 
class  had  been  graduated  from  the  Pacific  Theological  Semi- 
nary one  of  these  denominations  had  started  a  seminary.  So 
much  for  the  interdenominational  spirit  of  those  days. 

It  was  at  the  General  Association  which  met  in  Sacramento 
in  1866  that  the  action  was  taken  which  resulted  in  the  or- 
ganization of  the  Seminary.  The  Committee  of  Five  on 
the  Theological  Seminary  presented  an  elaborate  report 
signed  and  submitted  by  the  Revs.  I.  E.  Dwinell,  D.D.,  and 


232        Religious  Progress  on  the  Pacific  Slope 

W.  C.  Pond.  It  closed  with  the  recommendation  that  three 
resolutions  be  adopted: 

"  First,  That  it  is  expedient  that  measures  be  taken  for 
the  establishment  on  this  Coast  of  a  Theological  Seminary. 

Second,  That  we  recommend  with  reference  to  this  that  a 
meeting  of  friends  to  the  object  be  held  on  Thursday  forenoon 
at  Dr.  Dwinell's  Church,  to  commence  at  11  o'clock,  to 
organize  a  society  for  the  establishment  and  maintenance  of 
such  a  seminary. 

Third,  That  a  committee  of  three  be  appointed  to  draft 
and  submit  to  that  meeting  a  constitution  for  such  a  society." 

This  was  carried  unanimously. 

The  records  of  the  Seminary  begin  with  this  meeting.  The 
meeting  was  called  at  11  o'clock  a.  m.,  Thursday,  October  11, 

1866.  There  gathered  in  response  the  following  persons: 
the  Rev.  Messrs.  Dwinell,  Benton,  Stone,  Mooar,  Frear  and 
Pond;  also  Messrs.  Benchley,  Cross,  Haven,  Cox  and  Fhnt. 
Rev.  J.  A.  Benton  was  chosen  chairman  and  Mr.  E.  P.  Fhnt 
secretary.  Two  committees  were  appointed,  one  on  Constitu- 
tion and  the  other  on  Incorporation.  It  was  voted  that  San 
Francisco  should  be  the  principal  place  of  business.  The 
committees  reported  and  their  recommendations  were  ac- 
cepted. Permanent  organization  was  effected  by  the  election 
of  the  Rev.  A.  L.  Stone,  D.D.,  pastor  of  the  First  Congrega- 
tional Church  of  San  Francisco,  President;  Rev.  J.  A.  Benton, 
Vice-president;  Mr.  E.  P.  Flint,  Secretary;  Dea.  L.  B. 
Benchley,  Treasurer.  The  first  serious  task  was  to  secure 
funds.  The  endowment  was  set  at  $50,000,  but  it  was  voted 
to  begin  work  when  $25,000  was  in  hand.  Every  man  present 
was  declared  a  financial  agent  and  the  pastors  were  asked  to 
appeal  to  their  churches.  How  few  these  were  the  denomina- 
tional statistics  for  1866  reveal  —  thirty-two  churches, 
fourteen  hundred  and  twenty-eight  members.  What  bold- 
ness to  ask  these  for  $50,000!     At  a  meeting  held  in  March, 

1867,  the  record  of  reports  of  this  financial  campaign  revealed 


A  Historical  Sketch  233 

encouraging  progress.  Dr.  Dwinell,  who  was  preparing  for  a 
trip  East,  was  requested  to  act  as  the  seminary's  financial 
agent  while  there.  He  consented  and  went  with  high  hopes, 
but  ill  health  compelled  an  early  return  to  California  with 
little  to  add  to  the  fund.  Still  he  got  into  touch  with  the 
denominational  agencies,  which  resulted  in  good.  In  the  fall 
of  1868  the  financial  outlook  was  so  promising  that  it  was 
decided  to  begin  teaching  in  the  spring  of  1869.  Dr.  Dwinell 
was  offered  the  first  professorship,  but  declined  because  of 
the  unwilhngness  of  his  church  to  surrender  him.  At  a 
meeting  held  January  12,  1869,  the  founders  elected  the  Rev. 
J.  A.  Benton,  D.D.  Professor  of  Biblical  Literature;  he  ac- 
cepted and  at  once  made  preparation  for  beginning  in- 
struction. Teaching  began  August  19,  1869,  in  rented  rooms 
over  Roman's  bookstore  on  Montgomery  Street,  in  San 
Francisco.  Four  men  entered.  At  last  the  Theological 
Seminary  was  a  reality.  It  was  scarcely  noticed  outside  the 
circle  immediately  interested,  but  it  was  an  epoch  in  the  relig- 
ious life  of  the  State. 

Here  is  a  good  place  to  tarry  a  moment  to  take  the  spiritual 
measure  of  the  men  who  brought  this  institution  into  being. 
They  were  sturdy  souls  of  breadth  and  vision.  Their  breadth 
did  not  make  for  shallowness.  Present-day  religious  orators 
dwell  frequently  upon  the  growing  spirit  of  liberality  which  is 
apparent  in  the  denominational  groups  of  the  Christian 
Church.  They  herald  it  as  a  new  thing.  But  is  it?  Here 
was  this  group  of  men  in  California  (50  years  ago)  desiring  to 
prepare  for  the  state,  religious  leaders,  well  equipped  in  spirit 
and  mind.  To  accomplish  this  they  invited  the  co-operation 
of  their  fellow  Christians  in  founding  a  school  that  would 
teach  the  fundamental  things  of  Christianity  and  put  de- 
nominational emphasis  in  the  background.  When  they 
failed  in  this  they  retained  the  ideal  and  refused  to  give  to  the 
institution  a  name  that  would  permit  it  to  be  denominationally 
catalogued.     A   circular   issued   in    1871    states   that    "  The 


234        Religious  Progress  on  the   Pacific  Slope 

privileges  and  advantages  of  this  Seminary  are  offered  alike 
to  students  from  all  the  Evangelical  denominations."  This 
spirit  of  liberality  has  persisted  to  the  present  day.  The 
recent  action  of  the  Board  of  Trustees  by  which  all 
denominational  bonds  were  cut,  and  not  only  students,  but 
professors  and  trustees,  are  sought  in  whom  fitness  is  the 
only  condition,  is  in  accord  with  the  spirit  of  its  founders. 

The  need  of  a  second  professorship  was  soon  apparent. 
Early  in  1870  Dr.  Stone  was  asked  to  go  East  and  seek  for 
funds.  He  was  not  gone  long,  but  when  he  returned  he 
brought  money  and  promises  enough  to  cheer  the  hearts  of  the 
founders  and  cause  them  to  appoint  a  second  professor. 
Their  choice  was  the  Rev.  George  Mooar,  then  pastor  of  the 
First  Congregational  Church,  Oakland.  He  had  been  inter- 
ested in  the  Seminary  from  the  first,  and  when  the  call  came 
he  accepted  it  and  began  work  in  the  fall. 

The  next  important  step  in  the  history  of  the  institution 
was  the  purchasing  of  the  property  of  the  "  Female  College 
of  the  Pacific,"  situated  on  an  elevation  in  the  suburbs  of 
Oaldand.  This  became  known  in  after  years  as  "  Seminary 
Hill."  It  is  a  charming  spot.  The  price  paid  was  S80,000  in 
gold;  it  was  a  boom-time  price  and  contributed  to  the  finan- 
cial troubles  which  soon  came.  In  the  fall  of  1871  the  Semi- 
nary was  moved  to  Oakland  and  there  it  remained  for  thirty 
years. 

In  February,  1872,  the  corporate  name  of  the  institution 
was  changed  and  thereafter  it  had  the  cumbersome  title  of 
"  The  President  and  Board  of  Trustees  of  the  Pacific  Theo- 
logical Seminary,"  the  original  title  having  been  "  The  Con- 
gregational Theological  Seminary  of  California."  The  first 
Board  of  Trustees  was  composed  of  the  following  men: 
Revs.  I.  E.  Dwinell,  A.  L.  Stone,  J.  A.  Benton,  W.  C.  Pond, 
Eli  Corwin,  C.  H.  Pope,  and  Messrs.  E.  P.  Fhnt,  L.  B.  Bench- 
ley,  T.  B.  Bigelow,  L.  C.  Gunn,  W.  N.  Hawley,  J.  M.  Haven. 
The  Board  was  organized  by  the  election  of  Rev.  A.  L.  Stone, 


A   Historical  Sketch  235 

D.D.,  President;  Mr.  E.  P.  Flint,  Vice-president;  Rev.  W.  C. 
Pond,  Secretary;  L.  B.  Benchley,  Treasurer.  A  seal  was 
adopted.  The  Seminary  now  seemed  to  be  securely  founded, 
having  a  faculty  of  two,  an  endowment  sufficient  to  meet 
immediate  needs,  a  valuable  property  well  located  in  a  growing 
city  and  an  efficient  board  of  trustees.  If  I  were  writing  a 
history  instead  of  a  sketch  I  would  enter  into  the  situation 
as  it  then  existed,  but  I  cannot  tarry.  Financial  difficulties 
soon  developed.  The  pledges  to  the  endowments  shrunk, 
the  earning  abihty  of  what  remained  decreased,  the  real  estate 
venture  did  not  bring  the  returns  anticipated.  Another 
enterprise,  of  which  I  must  now  speak,  had  involved  the 
situation. 

The  men  who  applied  for  admission  to  the  Seminary  had 
not  had  the  opportunity  for  academic  education.  They 
were  mature  and  convinced  that  the  spending  of  four  years  in 
college  was  impossible.  They  desired  to  prepare  themselves 
for  what  they  felt  was  their  life's  work  as  soon  as  possible. 
Therefore  they  were  quite  raw  when  they  came  under  the 
training  of  the  professors.  The  College  of  California  was  not 
producing  material  for  the  ministry.  In  spite  of  the  fact  that 
in  one  of  the  reports  of  the  Educational  Committee  of  the 
denomination  that  three  of  the  young  men  about  to  graduate 
from  the  College  were  planning  to  enter  the  ministry,  the 
Seminary  received  none,  so  far  as  the  records  show.  Pro- 
fessors Benton  and  Mooar  soon  became  convinced  that  there 
was  need  of  a  school  in  which  the  candidates  for  the  ministry 
might  receive  some  academic  training,  and  broached  this  to 
the  Trustees.  It  appealed  to  them,  so  much  so  that  it  was  a 
factor  in  deciding  to  accept  the  opportunity  of  purchasing  the 
property  of  the  "  Female  College  of  the  Pacific."  An  academy 
could  be  conducted  alongside  the  Seminary,  as  the  buildings 
on  the  property  made  this  possible.  It  was  the  purchase  of 
this  property  which  financially  involved  the  Seminary. 
That  the  Trustees  made  no  mistake  in  purchasing  the  property 


236        Religious  Progress  on  the  Pacific  Slope 

is  evident  to  any  one  acquainted  with  the  after  history  of  the 
Seminary,  but  during  the  years  that  immediately  followed  1871 
it  seemed  to  be  a  grave  mistake.  If  a  sketch  of  the  Academy 
were  being  written  much  could  be  said  to  show  that  this 
institution  rendered  a  necessary  service  and  was  of  great  value 
when  High  Schools  were  few.  Many  of  the  Bay  region  pro- 
fessional and  business  men  were  prepared  for  their  life's  work 
in  it.  It  continued  upon  the  hill  for  over  twenty  years,  when 
it  was  transferred  to  San  Mateo  County,  where  it  was  united 
with  the  Belmont  School  for  Boys,  its  endowment  reverting 
to  the  Seminary. 

The  financial  situation  demanded  action,  and  in  October, 
1872,  the  Rev.  W.  C.  Pond  was  appointed  financial  agent, 
and  in  January,  1873,  he  was  requested  to  go  East  and  collect 
funds.  The  smallest  amount  needed  to  secure  the  Seminary 
was  $35,000.  Dr.  Pond  began  at  home,  appeahng  to  all  the 
churches  and  securing  pledges  to  the  amount  of  $13,000.  He 
went  East  for  the  remaining  $22,000.  It  was  a  strenuous 
undertaking,  in  the  midst  of  it  the  financial  crash  of  1873 
occurred,  but  he  would  not  quit  his  quest  and  was  rewarded 
by  securing  the  needed  amount.  He  says  of  this  service: 
"  It  took  nine  months  of  the  hardest  and  most  cross-bearing 
toil  that  ever  fell  to  my  lot."  He  returned  with  joy.  Still 
the  Seminary  was  not  safe.  The  development  of  the  Academy 
compelled  the  enlargement  of  its  equipment,  another  building 
was  erected  and  much  of  the  fund  collected  was  devoted  to 
this  instead  of  going  into  the  endowments.  A  bad  investment 
resulted  in  more  loss.  Finally  this  entry,  found  in  the  records 
for  February,  1876,  reveals  the  impending  trouble:  "A 
considerable  excess  of  liabiUties  over  available  assets,  and  an 
excess  of  current  expense  over  current  income  of  at  least 
$2,700,  per  annum."  A  committee  of  three,  composed  of 
W.  N.  Hawley,  S.  S.  Smith,  and  E.  P.  Fhnt,  was  raised  to 
advise  ways  and  means  to  meet  the  difficulty.  It  reported  in 
March,  making  the  following  recommendations:    1.  "  That 


A  Historical  Sketch  237 

sufficient  land  be  sold  to  pay  off  the  floating  debts  of  the 
Seminary;  2.  That  the  Finance  Committee  be  directed  to 
discontinue  the  present  system  of  loaning  the  endowment 
funds  without  real  estate  or  collateral  security,  and  that,  as 
far  as  possible,  security  be  obtained  for  the  loans  now  out- 
standing; 3.  That  we  continue  our  appeal  to  the  Churches." 
In  May,  1877,  Dea.  S.  S.  Smith  made  a  statement  that  showed 
that  the  Seminary  had  "  An  indebtedness  of  about  $30,000, 
with  assets,  outside  of  land  and  buildings,  of  about  $22,000." 
This  precipitated  a  crisis  which  is  set  forth  in  the  following 
minute:  "  Whereas  the  financial  condition  of  the  Seminary  is 
such  that  some  prompt  and  vigorous  action  must  be  taken  in 
order  to  avoid  bankruptcy;  and  whereas,  the  Professors  in 
the  Seminary  have  most  generously  signified  their  hearty 
endorsement  of  the  measures  hereinafter  proposed;  and 
whereas,  the  recent  gift  of  $10,000  from  Mark  Hopkins,  Esq., 
was  bestowed  by  him  and  received  by  us  on  condition  that  all 
existing  habihties  be  cancelled  as  soon  as  possible  and  no  new 
ones  incurred,  therefore  resolved,  1st,  that  all  dues  by  note 
or  otherwise  to  the  Seminary  be  collected  as  promptly  as 
possible,  and  be  appHed  to  the  Hquidation  of  our  floating  and 
bonded  debts;  2d,  that  all  proceeds  from  the  sale  of  lots  or 
other  property,  and  from  interest  on  endowment  funds  not 
called  in,  be  appHed  to  the  same  purpose  until  all  such  debts 
are  paid;  3d,  that  for  the  time  being  and  until  arrangements 
more  just  and  satisfactory  can  be  completed,  the  compensa- 
tion of  the  professors  shall  consist  of  such  amounts  as  shall 
remain  from  the  net  income  of  the  Academy  and  Seminary; 
4th,  that  the  endowment  funds  be  invested  in  the  lands  and 
buildings  of  the  Pacific  Theological  Seminary;  and  that  so 
much  of  said  land  and  buildings  as  will  secure  to  the  endowment 
funds  the  amount  of  $50,000  be  considered  as  belonging  to 
said  funds;  5th,  that  the  Finance  Committee  be  charged  with 
the  duty  of  carrying  into  effect  the  foregoing  resolutions; 
6th,  that  a  Committee  consisting  of  Messrs.  S.  S.  Smith,  E.  P. 


238        Religious  Progress  on  the  Pacific  Slope 

Flint  and  H.  E.  Jewett  be  appointed  to  provide,  as  far  as 
possible,  for  the  salaries  of  the  Professors,  until  the  endowment 
funds  become  sufficiently  productive."  This  meant  simply 
that  the  professors  were  to  receive  no  recompense.  In  view 
of  this  the  Board  stated  that  there  was  no  obligation  upon 
them  to  remain  in  their  positions.  But  to  their  eternal  credit, 
these  two  men  refused  to  vacate  their  chairs.  Professor 
Benton  was  able  to  maintain  himself  without  salary,  and 
Professor  Mooar  accepted  a  call  to  the  Plymouth  Avenue 
Church,  Oakland,  living  upon  the  salary  thus  secured.  These 
conditions  prevailed  until  June  5,  1882,  when  articles  2  to  6 
of  these  resolutions  were  rescinded,  "  in  view  of  the  fact  that 
our  endowments  are  now  restored."  That  is,  for  a  period  of 
five  years  these  devoted  men  served  the  Seminary  without 
stated  salary.  Fortunate  is  the  institution  that  can  secure  to 
itself  such  devotion. 

It  is  a  long  way  that  has  no  turning.  The  turn  in  the 
Seminary's  affairs  came  in  December,  1880.  The  record  for 
the  meeting  states  that  "  Brothers  Benton  and  Dwinell  " 
reported  meeting  with  Mr.  Moses  Hopkins  that  day,  and 
offered  to  sell  to  him  the  Academy  property.  He  refused, 
but  made  a  counter-proposition,  viz.,  that  he  would  pay  $37,- 
000  for  a  half  interest  in  the  property  if  a  like  amount,  for  the 
other  half  interest,  could  be  secured,  and  he  would  leave 
the  property  in  the  hands  of  the  Board  of  Trustees  for  ten 
years,  free  of  rent,  also  paying  the  taxes.  This  minute  fol- 
lows: "  In  view  of  this  proffer  and  the  gracious  deliverance 
out  of  our  embarrassments  which  it  seemed  likely  to  bring, 
the  Board  united  in  a  prayer  of  thanksgiving,  led  by  Dr. 
Pond."  The  way  was  better  farther  on.  The  minutes  for 
February  21,  1881,  contain  the  following:  "  The  Committee 
appointed  to  confer  with  Mr.  Moses  Hopkins  reported  that 
he  modified  and  improved  upon  his  former  proposition  by 
proffering  the  Board  a  gift  of  $50,000,  providing  we  would 
match  it  by  a  like  amount  raised  among  our  churches  and 


A   Historical  Sketch  239 

friends."  You  may  be  sure  the  Board  accepted  this  propo- 
sition, even  though  they  reahzed  that  the  task  thus  set  was 
difficult.  Plans  were  at  once  formulated  to  secure  the  neces- 
sary sum.  Dr.  Pond  was  appointed  once  again  the  Seminary's 
financial  agent,  and  steps  were  taken  to  secure  another  in  the 
East.  After  the  most  strenuous  efforts  but  $27,000  were 
reahzed.  Then  Dr.  Pond  was  urged  to  assume  the  active  field 
work  for  the  remainder.  After  some  hesitation  he  accepted  the 
task  and  eventually  had  the  joy  of  carrying  to  Mr.  Hopkins 
the  news  that  his  condition  was  met.  He  thereupon  claimed 
the  $50,000,  which  was  promptly  paid.  Thus  the  danger  that 
threatened  the  Seminary  was  past  and  once  more  its  future 
seemed  assured. 

In  January,  1889,  it  was  reported  that  a  third  professorship 
had  been  endowed  by  three  gifts:  $10,000,  from  Mrs.  Charles 
Crocker;  $11,000,  from  Mr.  Collis  P.  Huntington,  and  $5,000 
from  Mr.  Moses  Hopkins.  To  this  was  added,  in  1891,  a 
gift  of  $50,000  from  Mr.  Edward  Coleman  to  endow  a  chair, 
and  in  July,  1892,  a  gift  of  $50,000  was  recorded  from  Mrs. 
Juha  Billings.  In  connection  with  this  latter  gift  the  following 
minute  is  found:  "  In  making  this  gift  I  desire  to  recognize 
the  lifelong  friendship  between  Dr.  S.  H.  Willey  and  the  late 
Dr.  J.  A.  Benton  and  my  husband,  Frederick  Billings."  This 
was  not  all  of  the  golden  shower;  in  addition  were  many  gifts 
of  smaller  sums  for  the  endowment  of  scholarships.  Dr. 
Benton  willed  to  the  Seminary  a  parcel  of  land  in  Berkeley, 
which  was  afterwards  sold,  and  about  $35,000  was  thus  added 
to  the  invested  funds.  Since  her  original  gift,  Mrs.  BiUings 
has  made  two  other  gifts,  one  of  $15,000  and  another  of 
$30,000.  In  April,  1894,  appears  the  record  of  the  promise  of 
$30,000  to  endow  the  President's  chair,  the  sum  not  to  be  paid 
in  cash  immediately,  but  the  donor  agreeing  to  pay  6%  per 
annum  on  the  whole  until  it  was  paid  in  full.  This  donor  was 
Mr.  E.  T.  Earl.  In  spite  of  these  gifts,  in  the  late  90's  a 
financial  stringency  caused  the  Seminary  some  embarrassment, 


240        Religious  Progress  on  the  Pacific  Slope 

which  compelled  retrenchments  but  was  weathered,  and  the 
Seminary  again  entered  into  safer  waters.  In  1901,  Mr.  E.  T. 
Earl  gave  $60,000,  $10,000  of  this  to  be  added  to  the  Presi- 
dent's chair  endowment,  the  remaining  $50,000  to  endow  a 
lectureship.  This  lectureship  has  now  come  to  furnish  one 
of  the  most  important  events  in  the  academic  year  of  Berkeley. 
By  the  will  of  Edward  Coleman,  who  passed  away  in  1913,  the 
Seminary  received  $150,000  in  addition  to  the  $50,000  which 
he  had  already  given,  thus  making  a  total  gift  of  $200,000 
from  this  generous  man,  who  believed  that  he  could  best  help 
his  beloved  adopted  State  of  California  by  making  it  possible 
to  have  a  trained  ministry  of  the  Gospel. 

An  old  proverb  has  it  that  "  Three  removes  are  as  bad  as  a 
fire."  But  what  if  they  are?  A  fire  is  occasionally  useful. 
The  Seminary  has  made  three  removes  in  its  first  fifty  years, 
and  those  most  familiar  with  affairs  will  bear  testimony  to  the 
effect  that  they  were  good  removes.  San  Francisco,  Oakland, 
Berkeley,  —  the  procession  is  significant.  The  first  two  years 
were  passed  in  rooms  in  San  Francisco,  the  next  thirty  were 
upon  Seminary  Hill  in  Oakland  in  its  own  home,  a  site  worthy 
of  a  School  of  Divinity,  for  from  it  the  handiwork  of  God  was 
alluringly  manifest.  A  spectator  standing  upon  the  North 
Hall  porch,  almost  any  September  evening,  could  witness  one 
of  the  most  magnificent  sights  ever  presented  in  the  heavens. 
At  this  time  of  year  the  sun  sets  squarely  within  the  Golden 
Gate,  and  as  it  drops  below  the  horizon  it  floods  the  sky  with  a 
mass  of  colors  which  would  defy  the  brush  of  Raphael  —  a 
sight  once  seen  never  forgotten.  The  hills  behind  San  Fran- 
cisco, the  promontories  of  the  Gate,  Mount  Tamalpais,  the 
distant  hills  of  Sonoma,  with  the  bay  in  the  foreground  reveal 
subtle  beauties  in  all  kinds  of  weather,  high  fog,  clouds  or 
sunshine.  The  early  mornings  also  had  their  lure,  and  many 
a  student  regretfully  put  it  behind  him  to  enter  the  classroom. 
Outside  God  revealed  himself,  inside  man  tried  to  reveal  Him. 
But  the  day  came  when  this  hill  was  vacated  and  the  Semi- 


A  Historical  Sketch  241 

nary  moved  to  the  classic  shades  of  Berkeley,  where  it  took  its 
place  alongside  the  noble  family  of  sciences,  fostered  by  the 
University  from  which  it  was  necessarily  banished  through  the 
exigencies  of  its  Constitution,  though  theology  is  the  Queen 
mother  of  them  all. 

The  richest  asset  that  any  institution  can  possess  is  men. 
Pacific  Theological  Seminary  has  not  lacked  these.  Enough 
has  been  said  already  to  make  this  clear.  But  no  sketch  would 
be  complete  that  failed  to  say  something  of  those  men  who 
served  it  so  well.  The  founders  were  stalwarts.  Some  of 
them  I  did  not  meet,  though  their  names  are  as  familiar  to  me 
as  my  own.  Others  I  knew  and  know;  some  of  them  are  still 
with  us  —  laymen  and  clergymen,  —  but  all  God's  men. 
Think  of  three  of  them  who  yet  move  among  us :  Pond,  Flint 
and  Frear.  Here  are  the  names  of  the  men  who  gathered 
together  on  that  October  day  fifty  years  ago  in  Sacramento : 
Rev.  Messrs.  Dwinell,  Benton,  Stone,  Mooar,  Frear  and  Pond; 
Messrs.  Benchley,  Cross,  Cox,  Haven,  Flint.  They  met 
again  on  the  twelfth  to  adopt  a  Constitution  and  a  name, 
"  The  Board  of  Trustees  of  the  California  Theological  Semi- 
nary." From  that  time  on  these  names  appear  on  the  records 
again  and  again,  and  while  the  information  concerning  personal 
service  is  meagre,  it  can  be  read  between  the  lines.  Many 
hours  of  arduous  labor  and  anxiety  were  spent;  some  of  them 
put  their  life's  blood  into  this  institution,  as  we  who  celebrate 
should  remember.  Changes  came  in  this  Board  as  time  went 
on,  and  other  names  appear  of  just  as  devoted  men:  McLean, 
Jewett,  Cor  win.  Pope,  Bigelow,  Hawley,  etc.  Time  forbids 
particularizing.  From  1866  to  1892  two  men  only  served 
as  Presidents  of  the  Board:  Drs.  A.  L.  Stone  and  J.  K. 
McLean.  Dr.  Stone  served  until  failing  health  compelled 
him  to  retire.  He  retained  his  interest  to  the  last,  and  when 
his  will  was  read  it  was  found  that  he  had  presented  his  hbrary 
of  more  than  600  volumes  to  the  Seminary.  Dr.  McLean, 
who  became  a  trustee  almost  as  soon  as  he  arrived  on  the 


242        Religious  Progress  on  the  Pacific  Slope 

Coast,  in  1872,  succeeded  Dr.  Stone  and  served  continuously 
until  1911.  In  February,  1872,  Rev.  W.  C.  Pond  was  elected 
Secretary  and  served,  with  the  exception  of  the  period  he  was 
absent  on  his  financial  mission  in  the  East,  for  twenty-seven 
years,  resigning  in  1899.  He  was  succeeded  by  the  Rev. 
Henry  E.  Jewett,  who  had  been  a  trustee  for  years  and  also 
principal,  for  a  time,  of  the  xVcademy.  He  continued  as 
Secretary  until  1910.  Mr.  Jewett  was  away  for  a  year,  when 
the  Rev.  Walter  Frear  served.  Money  could  not  buy  such 
service  as  these  men  gave.  Four  men  filled  the  office  of 
treasurer  during  the  fifty  years — Messrs.  Benchley,  Flint,  J.  M. 
Haven,  and  his  son,  Thomas  E.  Haven.  Deacon  Benchley 
reported  a  deficit  of  more  than  $300  at  the  close  of  the  first 
year  and  doubtless  wrestled  with  many  similar  difficulties. 
The  scope  of  this  sketch  again  forbids  my  dwelling  upon 
the  works  of  these  men  and  of  members  of  the  Board  of 
Trustees.  Suffice  it  to  say,  that  through  thick  and  thin  they 
stood  firm;  some  of  them  emerged  from  the  financial  storms 
weather-beaten  but  triumphant. 

There  is  a  reputed  statement  of  James  A.  Garfield  that 
"  a  student  on  one  end  of  a  log  and  Mark  Hopkins  on  the 
other  would  make  a  college."  It  is  close  enough  to  experi- 
ence to  be  axiomatic.  The  greatest  asset  in  any  enterprise  is 
a  man  or  men.  Anything  will  go  that  has  a  man  behind  it. 
The  Board  of  Trustees  would  never  have  carried  Pacific 
Theological  Seminary  to  its  fiftieth  birthday  if  there  had  been 
no  Benton,  Mooar  and  Dwinell.  Horace  Bushnell  once 
introduced  Dr.  and  Mrs.  Benton  to  a  Congregational  Associa- 
tion in  Connecticut  as  "  The  father  and  mother  of  Pacific 
Theological  Seminary."  Was  it  extravagant?  Those  who 
know  best  will  say  no.  The  Seminary  had  its  triumvirate  as 
well  as  Rome;  it  was  a  triumvirate  of  inspiration  and  con- 
struction. While  Dr.  Dwinell  did  not  join  the  Faculty  until 
1884,  he  was  the  first  choice  of  the  founders  and  refused  it 
only  when  his  church  in  Sacramento  positively  refused  to 


President  John  Knox  McLean,  D.D.,  LL.D. 


A   Historical  Sketch  243 

release  him.  In  all  the  years  he  was  helpful,  and  it  was  re- 
garded as  a  day  of  completion  when  he  took  his  place  with  the 
other  two  men  in  the  Faculty.  It  is  due  him  to  record 
here  that  he  entered  the  Faculty  without  salary,  and  served 
for  some  time  thus.  He  was  the  first  of  these  three  noble 
men  to  enter  into  his  rest,  in  1890.  No  words  of  mine  can 
adequately  present  the  service  rendered  by  Professors  Benton 
and  Mooar.  Think  of  that  five  years  of  gratuitous  service! 
That  is  easy  to  comprehend,  but  there  were  years  and  years 
when  much  of  their  salary  went  back  into  the  institution. 
Ask  any  of  the  "  old  boys  "  their  opinion  of  these  men,  and 
you  loose  a  flow  of  eloquence  which  if  commanded  in  the 
pulpit  would  bring  the  congregation  in  adoring  reverence  to 
the  feet  of  God.  The  ability  to  win  the  love  of  his  students 
is  the  greatest  asset  a  teacher  can  possess.  These  men  pos- 
sessed it.  Professor  Benton  went  to  his  heavenly  rest  in 
1892,  Professor  Mooar  in  1904,  —  both  of  them  contributing 
of  their  ripe  wisdom  until  the  end.  All  are  glad  that  they  did 
not  pass  away  until  their  beloved  institution  was  in  good  hands 
and  its  future  assured. 

In  the  fifty  years  there  have  been  twenty-one  members  of 
the  Faculty:  Professors  Benton,  Mooar,  Dwinell,  Nash,  Love- 
joy,  Phelps,  Lloyd,  Foster,  Goodell,  McLean,  Bade,  Laughlin, 
Buckham,  Allison,  Chamberlin,  Castor,  Tolson,  Parsons,  Guy, 
Brooks,  McCown.  Of  these  seven  are  still  members,  viz., 
Professors  Nash,  Bade,  Buckham,  Tolson,  Brooks  and  Mc- 
Cown. Seven  have  passed  away  and  five  are  in  service  else- 
where. My  memory  retains  a  keen  recollection  of  some  of 
these  men.  Delightful  and  informing  hours  were  spent  with 
Dr.  Mooar  in  Church  History,  listening  with  keen  enjoyment 
to  his  analytical  treatment  of  the  problems  of  the  early  Chris- 
tian Church  and  descriptions  of  some  of  the  Church  Fathers 
and  their  service  to  the  cause  of  reHgion.  Professor  Foster 
used  to  make  his  students  start  by  his  electric  utterances 
upon  some  of  the  problems  of  Christian  Theology.     I  never 


244        Religious  Progress  on  the  Pacific  Slope 

shall  forget  his  facility  in  the  use  of  the  works  of  the  theologians 
of  the  Greek,  Latin  and  Evangelical  churches.  I  can 
hear  him  yet  quoting  a  Greek  extract  from  one  author,  a 
Latin  from  another  and  some  weighty  sentence  from  the 
German,  translating  them  into  Enghsh,  and  showing  the 
relation  of  all  these  citations  to  each  other.  I  could  not 
always  follow  him,  but  I  was  always  able  to  admire.  Profes- 
sor Lloyd  impressed  his  students  with  his  remarkable  industry 
and  his  indefatigable  zeal.  He  inspired  men  to  work.  Only 
one  remains  on  the  Faculty  who  was  teaching  in  my  day,  our 
worthy  President,  Dr.  Nash.  He  filled  the  chair  of  Homiletics, 
and  I  still  tingle,  when  I  think  of  it,  at  the  keen  criticism 
he  gave  of  my  first  attempt  to  deliver  a  sermon.  But  he 
softened  it  by  telling  me  privately  that  I  had  better  things  in 
me,  and  I  was  comforted.  Professor  Lovejoy  used  to  delight  us 
in  morning  prayers  with  his  keen  and  practical  exegesis  of 
some  of  the  great  passages  of  the  Old  Testament.  Professors 
Laughlin  and  Parsons  were  with  the  Seminary  but  a  short 
time,  but  they  added  their  personality  and  ability  and  are 
remembered  by  the  students  who  came  under  their  teaching. 
A  great  loss  came  to  the  Seminary  in  the  untimely  and  tragical 
death  of  Professor  Castor.  The  Faculty  Minutes  reveal  the 
large  place  he  had  made  for  himself  in  that  circle  and  his  stu- 
dents speak  of  him  as  a  most  inspiring  teacher. 

An  examination  of  the  records  reveals  that  one  hundred  and 
sixty-two  students  have  taken  such  courses  as  graduated  them 
with  the  degree  of  B.D.,  or  with  a  diploma.  More  than  these 
were  enrolled  as  special  students,  or  as  regular  students  going 
elsewhere  for  graduation.  This  is  not  a  large  number,  but 
when  all  the  conditions  are  remembered  it  is  an  enrollment 
that  compares  favorably  with  institutions  better  located,  so 
far  as  access  to  candidates  for  the  ministry  is  concerned. 
Where  have  these  graduates  gone?  It  is  manifestly  impossible 
for  me  to  make  specific  mention  of  them,  even  if  I  knew 
about  them  all.     The  majority  served  and  are  serving  churches 


A   Historical  Sketch  245 

on  this  coast.  Some  of  them  went  elsewhere.  Two  of  the 
first  class,  Stephens  and  Watkins,  went  as  missionaries  to 
Mexico.  Stephens  was  assassinated  by  a  mob  led  by  a  priest. 
Watkins  did  a  remarkable  work  in  Mexico  and  Central 
America.  Another  was  a  pioneer  missionary  in  China,  or- 
ganizing the  South  China  Mission  of  the  American  Board  in 
1883.  Still  another  was  a  missionary  pioneer  in  West  Central 
Africa,  founding  the  mission  bearing  that  name  under  the 
direction  of  the  American  Board.  Another  opened  Christian 
work  in  Nome  after  the  discovery  of  gold  in  that  far  northern 
section  of  our  nation,  going  in  with  the  earhest  of  the  gold- 
seekers  and  caring  for  some  of  them  through  a  fearful  winter 
when  many  were  in  poverty  and  ill.  Two  more  are  Secretaries 
of  State  Home  Missionary  Societies,  one  in  Northern  Califor- 
nia, the  other  in  Illinois.  The  churches  of  CaHfornia  have 
been  well  served  by  others:  San  Francisco,  Oakland,  Berkeley, 
Petaluma,  Santa  Rosa,  Stockton,  Oroville,  Fresno,  Pacific 
Grove,  Santa  Cruz  and  many  of  the  smaller  churches  in  towns 
and  villages  have  responded  to  the  guidance  of  these  pastors, 
who  faithfully  discharged  their  duties.  Seven  participants 
on  the  program  of  this  semi-centennial  are  graduates,  two  of 
them  professors,  viz.,  Bert  Jasper  Morris,  occupying  the  chair 
of  Philosophy  in  the  College  of  the  Pacific,  and  George  Tolover 
Tolson,  who  is  a  member  of  the  Faculty  of  the  Seminary, 
occupying  the  chair  of  Church  History.  I  am  sure  that  the 
founders  who  are  here,  and  those  who  have  entered  into  the 
other  life,  feel  repaid  for  the  sacrifices  they  made  in  establishing 
the  Seminary. 

There  is  a  period  of  the  Seminary's  history  which  I  have  not 
touched  upon  sufficiently  yet.  I  now  take  it  up.  It  is  the 
period  covered  by  the  presidencies  of  Dr.  McLean  and  Dr. 
Nash.  This  covers  the  last  twenty-four  years.  It  was  an 
event  of  more  than  local  interest  when  Dr.  McLean  left  his 
long  and  effective  pastorate  of  the  First  Church  of  Oakland  to 
become  the  President  of  the  Seminary.     Some  there  were  who 


246         Religious  Progress  on  the  Pacific  Slope 

thought  it  a  descent,  but  nothing  that  Dr.  McLean  did  could 
ever  be  justly  described  by  that  term.  Certain  endowments 
had  recently  come  that  made  possible  a  larger  faculty,  and 
there  was  good  reason  to  believe  that  the  sources  of  gifts  were 
not  exhausted.  With  his  assumption  of  the  office,  one  of  his 
friends,  Mr.  Earl,  promised  to  pay  6%  per  annum  on  $30,000 
towards  his  salary.  This  he  did,  and  later  paid  this  sum  to  the 
Seminary's  endowment  and  added  to  it  $10,000  more.  New 
departments  were  planned :  one  of  sociology,  another  to  teach 
the  English  Bible,  for  those  who  could  not  take  the  time  to 
study  the  original  tongues.  This  chair  was  occupied  for  about 
six  years  by  Professor  Goodell,  a  man  of  keen  intellect  and  a 
discriminating  spirit,  who  stirred  his  students  to  a  love  of  the 
Book  of  Books.  The  movement  of  the  times  demanded  a 
larger  curriculum.  Other  institutions  were  reaching  out  for 
students  and  offering  great  inducements  in  scholarships  and 
departments.  It  was  soon  discovered  that  if  Pacific  Theologi- 
cal Seminary  was  to  continue  it  must  have  more  endowment 
and  secure  a  location  where  it  could  avail  itself  of  the  advan- 
tages of  the  State  University.  It  was  also  evident  that  a 
larger  opportunity  of  service  would  open  if  denominational 
cooperation  could  be  secured.  The  records  for  November 
5,  1894,  contain  an  overture  to  this  end.  The  following 
minute  is  noted:  "  The  Faculty  is  authorized  to  approach  the 
Baptists  and  Methodists  with  reference  to  using  the  Seminary 
facilities  for  their  candidates  for  the  ministry."  Once  more  a 
welcoming  hand  is  proffered  to  fellow  Christians.  Little 
result  was  obtained.  It  may  be  said,  however,  that  the 
M.  E.  Church  has  unofficially  availed  itself  of  the  opportunity 
and  a  number  of  its  ministers  have  studied  here.  An  interest- 
ing illustration  of  this  interdenominational  relationship  was 
presented  in  the  north  end  of  Berkeley  recently.  The  pastors 
of  the  Methodist  Episcopal,  the  Episcopal  and  the  Congrega- 
tional churches  were  all  three  graduates  of  this  Seminary.  In 
the  classrooms  of  this  semester,  there  gather  students  from  the 


A   Historical  Sketch  247 

three  Seminaries  of  Berkeley  and  special  students  from  all  the 
leading  denominations.  Thus  is  being  fulfilled  the  vision  of 
the  founders,  a  school  of  theology  wherein  all  the  followers  of 
Christ  may  gather  without  fear  or  prejudice,  certain  that 
what  is  vital  is  conserved.  The  year  1898  brought  a  financial 
disturbance.  The  income  of  the  Seminary  decreased,  so  that 
it  became  necessary  to  economize.  President  McLean  was 
much  disturbed,  as  was  the  Board  of  Trustees  and  Faculty. 
Professor  Lovejoy  resigned,  feeling  that  he  could  best  help  the 
institution  by  this  action.  The  seriousness  of  the  situation  is 
revealed  by  the  number  of  meetings  the  Trustees  held.  It 
was  a  crisis  demanding  wise  management  if  the  Seminary  was 
to  emerge  without  permanent  injury.  At  a  meeting  held 
March  13,  President  McLean  presented  the  following  recom- 
mendations: "  That  steps  be  taken  to  secure  a  site  for  the 
Seminary  in  Berkeley  and  that  the  Board  of  Trustees  suspend 
for  some  definite  period  all  courses  of  instruction,  and  that  this 
Board  encourage  the  establishment  of  a  Christian  annex  to  the 
University  of  California  at  Berkeley."  A  special  committee 
was  appointed  to  take  these  recommendations  under  con- 
sideration. Two  weeks  later  the  Board  met.  In  the  mean- 
time some  members  of  the  Faculty  drew  up  a  plan  for  adapting 
the  Seminary  to  the  enlarged  requirements  under  the  existing 
financial  conditions.  This  plan  was  read,  and  appealed  so 
favorably  that  it  was  referred  to  all  the  Faculty  and  to  the 
special  committee  which  had  been  raised  to  consider  Dr.  Mc- 
Lean's recommendations.  Dr.  McLean  afterwards  withdrew 
his  recommendations  in  favor  of  the  new  plan  developed  out  of 
these  suggestions.  Before  the  meeting  adjourned  the  following 
motion  was  made  by  the  Rev.  L.  D.  Rathbone  and  carried 
unanimously:  "  Resolved,  that  it  is  not  the  intention  of  this 
Board  of  Trustees  that  instruction  in  the  Seminary  be  sus- 
pended." Thus  this  crisis  was  passed  and  the  continuity  of 
the  Seminary  assured.  The  proposed  plan  involved  moving 
the  Seminary  to  Berkeley.     This  so  appealed  to  the  Board  of 


248        Religious  Progress  on  the  Pacific  Slope 

Trustees  that  it  was  unanimously  voted  on  April  10,  1899,  to 
call  an  advisory  body;   this  body  to  consist  of  "  (a)  all  the 
alumni  of  the  Seminary  who  are  within  reach,  (&)  thirty  other 
persons  selected  from  our  churches,  ten  ministers  and  twenty 
laymen,  to  sit  in  joint  session  with  the  Trustees  and  Faculty 
for  a  full  consideration  of  the  problems  now  on  hand."     This 
Advisory  body  met  in  the  First  Congregational  Church,  San 
Francisco,  on  April  24,   1899.     It  resulted  in  a  practically 
unanimous  vote  to  move  the  Seminary  to  Berkeley  at  the 
earhest  possible  moment.     In  accordance  with  this  action  the 
Board  of  Trustees  voted,  on  April  25,  that  the  Seminary's 
Oakland    property    be    offered    for    sale    for    $65,000.     The 
following  motion  was  made  by  the  Rev.  George  C.  Adams, 
D.D.,  pastor  of  the  First  Congregational  Church,  San  Fran- 
cisco, seconded  by  Mr.  N.  P.  Cole,  and  carried  unanimously: 
"  Resolved,  that  in  the  judgment  of  this  Board  of  Trustees  it  is 
wise  to  change  the  location  of  the  Seminary  to  some  point  to 
be  selected  in  the  neighborhood  of  the  University  of  California 
at  Berkeley,  and  we  propose  to  take  steps  to  that  end  as  rapidly 
as  circumstances  will  permit."     The  quest  for  a  location  began 
immediately.     It  was  ended  after  some  months  by  the  pur- 
chase of  property  on  Atherton  Street,  which  had  been  used  as 
a  boarding  school  and  seemed  to  be  adaptable  for  the  Semi- 
nary.    A  site  was  purchased  on  Bancroft  Way,  but  was  resold 
to  the  Board  of  Regents  of  the  University  at  their  request. 
The  Atherton  Street  property  was  secured  in  the  summer  of 
1901,  and  the  removal  fully  effected  in  the  late  fall  of  that 
year.     It  can  safely  be  said  that  the  action  has  never  been 
regretted  unless  for  sentimental  reasons;    so  far  as  the  in- 
stitution's efficiency  is  concerned,  it  was  one  of  the  best  things 
that  ever  occurred.     At  once  the  Seminary  was  admitted,  I 
may  say  welcomed,  into  the  circle  of  colleges  constituting  the 
University  and  has  held  its  place  honorably  ever  since.     It 
was  in  this  period  that  Professors  Foster  and  Lloyd  resigned. 
The  Seminary  went  on  quietly  doing  its  work  for  the  following 


A   Historical  Sketch  249 

nine  years.  In  the  meantime  other  Seminaries  were  organized 
and  located  in  Berkeley,  the  Unitarian,  the  Disciples  and  the 
Baptist.  Pacific  Theological  Seminary  welcomed  them  and 
cordially  opened  its  classrooms  and  library  for  their  use, 
seeking  to  cooperate  with  them  in  every  way. 

The  next  event  of  importance  was  the  resignation  of  Presi- 
dent McLean  at  the  annual  meeting  of  the  Board  of  Trustees, 
held  in  April,  1910,  to  take  effect  June  26,  1911.  Before 
taking  this  action.  Dr.  and  Mrs.  McLean  had  presented  to  the 
Seminary  the  beautiful  home  which  they  had  recently  built, 
to  serve  as  the  home  of  the  President  or  to  be  put  to  any  other 
use  which  seemed  best  to  the  Board  of  Trustees.  It  is  valued 
in  the  assets  at  $15,000.  Dr.  and  Mrs.  McLean  were  to  re- 
tain possession  during  their  natural  lives.  At  his  retirement 
from  the  presidency.  Dr.  McLean  was  unanimously  elected 
President-emeritus  and  continued  to  grace  the  public  meetings 
of  the  Seminary  with  his  presence.  In  February,  1914,  he 
was  called  into  the  presence  of  his  heavenly  Father,  quietly 
passing  out  of  this  body.  Thus  ended  the  life  of  a  man  who 
gained  a  large  place  in  the  hfe  of  the  Pacific  Coast.  He  was 
known  from  San  Diego  to  Puget  Sound.  Almost  every  trout 
stream  on  the  Coast  had  given  up  its  finny  beauties  at  his 
command;  the  summits  of  our  majestic  mountains  had  been 
pressed  by  his  feet.  He  was  a  lover  of  God,  of  nature  and 
of  men.  His  influence  was  not  confined  to  those  of  his  own 
denomination;  he  was  minister  at  large;  and  people  in  far- 
away cities  were  glad  to  tell  the  Hstener  that  "  they  had  be- 
longed to  Dr.  McLean's  Church  in  Oakland,"  or  that  he  had 
baptized  them,  or  married  them,  or  received  them  into  the 
Church.     As  Pastor  and  as  President  he  served  his  day  well. 

The  task  before  the  Board  of  Trustees  in  finding  a  successor 
to  Dr.  McLean  was  not  easy.  Several  men  were  suggested, 
but  all  fell  into  the  background  when  the  Board  turned  to 
Professor  Nash,  who  for  many  years  had  been  a  strong  force 
in  the  Faculty,  helping  Dr.  McLean  in  carrying  forward  such 


250        Religious  Progress  on  the  Pacific  Slope 

plans  as  were  developed  for  the  good  of  the  Seminary.  In 
September,  1910,  he  was  unanimously  elected  to  succeed  Dr. 
McLean  and  assumed  the  office  the  following  June.  President 
Nash  took  up  the  work  where  President  McLean  laid  it  down; 
he  was  fully  cognizant  of  the  latter's  plans  and  approved  of 
them.  The  increased  demands  being  made  upon  the  in- 
stitution, because  of  new  developments  in  theological  training, 
made  it  imperative  that  effort  should  be  made  to  secure  needed 
funds.  President  Nash  went  at  the  task  with  characteristic 
energy.  It  seemed  fitting  to  him  that  some  memorial  of 
Dr.  McLean's  service  should  be  secured,  and  he  opened  a 
campaign  for  what  is  now  known  as  the  "  J.  K.  McLean 
Fund  "  and  is  credited  with  ^51,250.  There  was  a  standing 
offer  of  $50,000  on  condition  of  completing  another  $150,000. 
By  strenuous  effort  this  challenge  was  met.  Later  came  the 
bequest  from  Edward  Coleman  of  $150,000,  which  gave  to 
the  Seminary  splendid  financial  resource;  but  like  all  growing 
institutions,  its  needs  exceed  its  assets  still.  President  Nash 
coveted  a  location  nearer  to  the  University.  Atherton  Street 
was  rather  obscure,  and  the  material  equipment  which  the 
institution  would  ultimately  need  and  must  have  could  not 
be  set  with  advantage  on  this  property.  A  suitable  site  was 
found  in  the  Professor  Moses  property,  situated  on  the  east 
side  of  College  Avenue,  adjoining  the  university  grounds. 
It  was  purchased  for  $80,000.  Upon  this  site  it  is  hoped  to 
erect,  in  the  near  future,  a  splendid  group  of  buildings,  con- 
sisting of  a  central  building  for  administration,  teaching  and 
dormitories,  a  hbrary  building  and  a  chapel  where  services  of 
worship  may  be  held  every  day  in  the  week.  President  Nash 
has  set  before  himself  the  task  of  securing  the  funds  for  this 
equipment,  for  not  one  dollar  of  the  invested  funds  can  be 
used  for  this  purpose.  Believers  in  the  ministry  of  the  gospel, 
and  in  the  future  of  Berkeley  as  an  educational  center  and  a 
place  from  which  shall  go  prepared  men  and  women  to 
minister  to  the  world's  intellectual  and  spiritual  needs,  may 


A  Historical  Sketch  251 

have  an  active  part  in  this  work  by  subscribing  to  the  build- 
ing fund. 

Not  all  the  energies  of  President  Nash  were  exhausted  in 
the  pursuit  of  financial  aid;  he  had  other  plans  which  he  sought 
to  realize.  One  of  these  was  the  putting  of  the  Seminary 
into  the  place  where  it  could  appeal,  untrammeled,  in  the 
most  effectual  way,  to  all  Christians.  The  way  to  do  this, 
it  seemed  to  him,  was  to  unloose  the  slight  denominational 
bonds  which  connected  the  Seminary  with  the  Congregational 
churches.  You  remember  that  it  was  never  the  wish  of  the 
founders  to  make  it  a  denominational  school.  Hence  the 
Seminary  was  attached  as  loosely  as  possible  to  the  churches  to 
which  it  must,  for  the  time  being  at  least,  look  for  support. 
Much  of  the  money  which  forms  its  endowment  was  given  by 
people  who  were  not  Congregationalists,  though  the  bulk  of 
it  came  from  those  of  the  Pilgrim  faith.  The  constitution  had 
but  one  word  which  revealed  its  denominational  character, 
viz.,  the  word  "  Congregational."  This  appeared  in  a  clause 
which  provided  that  the  trustees  and  teachers  must  be  mem- 
bers of  a  "  Congregational  Church."  Few  knew  that  this 
existed,  so  loosely  had  it  been  interpreted,  for,  while  the  regular 
members  of  the  Faculty  were  members  of  a  Congregational 
Church,  the  special  instructors  were  never  asked  for  their 
denominational  affiliations.  At  the  annual  meeting  of  1912, 
President  Nash  presented  a  motion,  which  had  been  discussed 
and  acted  upon  by  the  Faculty,  to  proceed  to  undenomination- 
alize  the  Seminary  by  omitting  the  word  "  Congregational  " 
from  the  By-laws.  Then  ensued  a  most  earnest  discussion; 
the  merits  of  the  proposition  were  examined ;  the  argument  of 
larger  possibilities  of  service  to  the  cause  of  religion  won  the 
day,  and  the  Board  of  Trustees  unanimously  voted  to  adopt  the 
recommendation.  It  may  be  said  with  conviction  that  this 
was  one  of  the  most  generous  acts  ever  performed  on  the 
Pacific  Coast.  This  Faculty  and  Board  of  Trustees,  all  of 
thent    actively     connected    with    Congregational    churches, 


252        Religious  Progress  on  the   Pacific  Slope 

voluntarily  surrendered  their  denominational  claims  and  gave 
to  the  cause  of  religion  this  institution  with  its  large  assets. 
Critics  of  organized  Christianity  are  sometimes  vociferous 
in  their  denunciation  of  denominational  selfishness,  and  talk 
as  though  there  can  be  no  generosity  in  it.  Tell  this  story 
abroad  and  confute  such  calumnies!  The  Pacific  Seminary 
stands  on  the  Pacific  Coast  for  what  Union  Seminary  represents 
in  New  York  City,  a  ministry  to  the  whole  Church  of  Christ. 
It  refuses  to  be  narrowed  in  its  career  by  denominational, 
racial  or  theological  prejudices.     It  seeks  to  serve  the  world. 

The  story  recited  here  has  but  httle  of  interest  to  the  man 
of  the  street,  it  is  a  story  of  small  things  as  men  measure. 
But  in  it  are  to  be  found,  by  those  who  look,  the  elements  of 
heroism,  a  deep  devotion  to  the  cause  of  Christ  in  a  new  State. 
Its  founders  inherited  the  spirit  of  the  Pilgrims.     Their  first 
act  upon  reaching  the  new  land  of  California  was  to  claim  it 
for  Christ.     They  founded  churches,  organized  pubhc  and 
private  schools,  and  stood  strongly  for  morality.     There  was 
need  of  it,  for  the  restraints  of  civilization  were  for  the  first 
time  removed  from  many  adventurous  souls.     The  Minutes 
of  the  General  Association  of  the  Congregational  churches  of 
CaUfornia  contain  resolutions  designed  to  better  the  social 
condition  of  the  new  Commonwealth.     Doubtless  the  records 
of    other    denominations    contain    Uke    utterances.      They 
coveted  the  best  for  the  land  of  their  adoption,  and  neglected 
no  means  which  promised  to  be  effective  in  making  for  a 
better  day.     That  is  why  they  stood  for  an  educated  ministry, 
who  could  lead  their  people  into  an  intelhgent  piety.     Think 
for  a  moment  of  the  boldness  of  this  group  of  men,  undertaking 
to  found  a  Seminary!     Twenty-five  pastors,  eighteen  of  whom 
were  being  partly  supported  by  the  American  Home  Mission- 
ary Society.     It  was  a  great  adventure.     Unselfishly  they 
entered  upon  it.     Dwinell,  Mooar,  Stone  and  Pond  went  to 
the  Atlantic  Coast  to  ask  for  money  to  found  churches  in  a 
land  where  God's  gold  was  to  be  had  for  the  seeking.     It  is 


A  Historical  Sketch  253 

to  the  credit  of  New  England  that  these  suppliants  were  not 
turned  away  empty-handed  with  the  taunt,  "  Go  and  get  some 
of  the  gold  which  the  men  of  California  are  spending  so 
lavishly!"  The  men  of  California  were  too  busy  to  be  wisely 
liberal.  The  day  did  come  when  the  fever  of  gain  abated 
and  other  things  began  to  have  value.  The  financial  condi- 
tion of  the  Seminary  today  is  almost  wholly  due  to  the  gener- 
osity of  men  and  women  who  were  Californians,  and  who  took 
time  to  think,  and  as  they  thought,  perceived  the  nature  of 
true  wealth.  The  best  friends  the  Seminary  can  have  are 
those  who  love  California  and  seek  its  highest  good. 

What  of  the  coming  years?  It  is  not  my  privilege  to  write. 
Our  devoted  President  will  do  this  later.  But  I  have  a  faith 
that  leads  me  to  a  conviction  that  eye  hath  not  seen  nor  tongue 
described  what  is  to  be  the  future  of  this  institution.  Cali- 
fornia faces  the  great  and  mysterious  East  out  of  which  shall 
come  great  things.  Our  shores  are  already  sought  by  Orientals 
seeking  for  western  knowledge  and  for  religious  truth.  Berke- 
ley, strategically  located  opposite  the  Golden  Gate,  is  destined 
to  become  one  of  the  educational  centers  of  the  world.  From 
it  will  doubtless  go  in  future  years  many  trained  men  and 
women  who  shall  exert  great  influence  over  their  fellows. 
Surely  this  School  of  Religion  will  make  a  contribution  equally 
valuable  with  those  of  the  schools  of  the  sciences.  Rehgion 
will  ever  have  a  place  in  the  hfe  of  man.  Therefore  the  future 
of  this  institution  which  is  about  to  enter  upon  the  second  half 
of  its  first  century  will  surpass  the  past,  because  its  oppor- 
tunity will  be  greater. 


Chapter  XIII 

THE  FAITH  AND  COURAGE  OF  THE  FOUNDERS 

The  Rev.  Walter  Frear,  D.D. 

To  us  who  are  gathered  here,  and  to  a  far  larger  number 
who  are  not  here,  but  ahke  are  friends  of  our  Seminary, 
this  is  a  day  of  many  gratifications.  Especially  is  it  so  to 
the  few  of  us  who  still  survive  of  those  who  were  its  founders 
fifty  years  ago. 

I  am  sure  that  I  may  speak  for  Dr.  Pond  and  Mr.  Flint, 
neither  of  whom  can  be  with  us  today,  as  well  as  for  my- 
self, when  I  say  that  we,  the  only  remaining  ones  of  the  twelve 
original  trustees,  are  deeply  grateful,  and  count  it  a  high 
honor  that  we  were  permitted  to  have  a  part  in  the  humble 
beginning  of  this  school  of  religion,  which  now  ranks  so  high 
and  has  come  into  so  large  a  sphere  of  usefulness. 

Of  the  entire  thirty-four  men  who  on  that  memorable 
eleventh  of  October,  1866,  signed  their  names  as  members  of 
an  association  to  establish  a  theological  seminary,  there 
are,  if  I  mistake  not,  but  two  others  who  are  Hving,  one  of 
whom  in  a  few  years  passed  into  another  denomination,  and 
the  other  removed  from  the  State. 

As  we  recall  to  mind  today  the  heroic  souls  who  were  the 
real  founders  of  our  seminary,  we  cannot  help  thinking  of 
the  gratification  that  would  be  theirs  could  they  be  with  us 
and  see  how  their  faith  had  been  rewarded  and  their  hopes 
fulfilled.  How  great  would  be  their  joy  to  see  the  large 
teaching  force  in  place  of  the  one  lone  professor  who  had  been 
waited  for  so  long;  and  the  large  endowment,  very  much 
exceeding  that  of  Bangor,  which  is  now  twice  as  old  and  is 
about  to  celebrate  its  centennial;  in  its  cordial  affihation  with 

254 


The  Faith  of  the  Founders  255 

a  great  institution  of  learning,  which  was  at  the  first  in  their 
desire  and  in  their  planning;  and  in  its  splendid  outlook  on 
all  sides  environed  with  opportunities  in  the  interests  of 
Christ's  kingdom  that  at  that  time  could  be  but  faintly- 
conceived. 

And  more  still  would  they  rejoice  to  see  the  large  body 
of  alumni  who  in  such  gratifying  measure  have  fulfilled 
their  chief  purpose  in  supplying  our  churches  with  a  home- 
trained  ministry.  Up  and  down  all  our  coast  they  would  see 
churches  that  have  been  planted  and  nurtured  by  these  sons 
of  the  Seminary.  They  would  see  them  standing  by  their 
work  faithfully,  in  mountain  and  valley  and  town,  while 
others  who  came  to  us  often  grew  weary  and  went  away. 
They  would  see  them  in  pastorates  that  grew  fruitful  and  that 
were  perhaps  of  more  than  average  length ;  one  of  them  being 
now  in  the  longest  existing  Congregational  pastorate  on  the 
Pacific  Coast,  the  longest  we  have  ever  had,  with  one  possible 
exception;  and  another  of  them  being  still  in  the  third  long- 
est existing  pastorate.  I  refer  to  Rev.  R.  H.  Sink  of  Stock- 
ton, and  Rev.  J.  J.  Staub  of  Portland,  Ore.  Truly,  our  alumni 
and  their  work  witness  wonderfully  well  to  the  wisdom  of  the 
founders! 

President  Nash,  in  his  letter  inviting  me  to  participate  in 
this  celebration,  said:  "  We  desire  to  get  from  you  all  that  you 
can  give  us  out  of  your  memory  or  out  of  records  of  your  part 
in  the  Seminary's  history,  and  of  others'  parts  so  far  as  you 
have  knowledge  of  them.  It  will  be  a  great  favor  and  service 
if  you  can  do  this,  giving  us  color,  atmosphere  and  interpreta- 
tion of  bare  facts." 

It  was  this  latter  that  especially  appealed  to  me.  I  would 
despair  of  giving  you  any  material  facts  that  have  not  already 
been  presented  to  you  in  the  historical  address  already  given, 
or  that  have  not  been  told  and  retold  in  charter-day  addresses. 
If  I  repeat  in  anything,  as  doubtless  I  must  in  some  things,  it 
will  be  only  in  illustration  of  our  theme.     It  is  the  atmosphere 


256         Religious  Progress  on  the  Pacific  Slope 

and  interpretation  of  facts  that  give  them  their  meaning. 
It  is  from  the  environment,  the  times  and  existing  conditions, 
that  events  get  their  coloring.  And  so  what  we  want  to  do  is 
to  go  back  and  stand  beside  those  Seminary  pioneers,  and 
look  out  of  their  eyes,  and  see  the  needs  of  their  day  as  they 
saw  them,  and  catch  glimpses  of  their  faith  and  courage  as 
they  faced  their  great  undertaking. 

In  the  first  place  let  us  try  to  interpret,  if  we  can,  their 
deep  feehng  of  the  need  of  a  seminary.  There  is  something 
out  of  the  ordinary  about  this.  It  came  up  strongly  in  the 
consciousness  of  men  years  before  actual  steps  for  the  starting 
of  a  Seminary  were  taken.  If  there  was  anything  hke  it  in 
other  states  of  the  new  West,  I  am  not  aware  of  it.  But  to 
our  ministers  here,  with  their  hearts  close  to  the  work  and 
throbbing  with  the  pulsations  of  its  best  interests,  there  came 
the  profound  conviction  that  we  must  provide  for  the  training 
of  our  preachers  and  pastors.  Our  general  association  was 
no  more  than  a  year  old  when  it  expressed  itself  emphatically 
that  our  condition  here  rendered  it  necessary  that  we  take 
measures  for  rearing  a  ministry  of  our  own.  This  was  when 
we  had,  all  told,  but  ten  Congregational  churches  in  the 
State,  with  a  membership  of  less  than  six  hundred. 

Two  years  later  there  was  a  still  stronger  expression  by 
the  Association  to  the  effect  that  we  deem  it  of  vital  import- 
ance that,  at  the  earliest  possible  day,  facilities  be  provided 
within  our  Hmits  for  the  education  of  a  competent  ministry 
for  the  service  of  our  churches.  The  next  year  this  growing 
conviction  received  its  most  pronounced  expression  in  The 
Pacific.  In  a  stirring  editorial,  and  as  voicing  the  feeling  and 
judgment  of  our  ministers  and  churches,  it  set  forth  vividly 
the  existing  conditions  and  then  said:  "  Therefore,  California 
needs  a  theological  seminary  of  its  own,  and  this  need  is 
urgent,  and  steps  should  be  taken  to  secure  one.  To  be 
behindhand  in  this  work,  and  to  wait  until  the  necessity 
glares  upon  us,  will  be  to  consign  to  those  living  after  us  the 


The  Faith  of  the  Founders  257 

hopeless  endeavor  of  doing  their  work  and  ours.  Let  it  be 
settled,  then,  that  the  thing  must  be  done,  and  done  promptly. 
Let  us  respond  to  the  call,  as  a  sacred  trust  of  Providence." 

This  was  six  years  before  instruction  began  with  our  first 
seminary  class.  The  next  year,  two  years  before  the  day  we 
celebrate  —  this  urgency  was  increased  by  the  fact  that  some 
of  the  first  class  in  our  college  graduating  that  year  had  it  in 
mind  to  study  for  the  ministry.  In  view  of  this  the  Associa- 
tion said:  "  The  time  has  come  when  a  theological  seminary 
should  be  made  a  matter  of  definite  consideration  and  action." 

It  was  not  yet  quite  ready  for  that  action,  but  referred 
the  whole  matter  to  the  Bay  Association  for  investigation. 
Then  came  the  pivotal  years  of  '65  and  '66,  when  the  reports 
gave  a  still  more  intensified  voicing  of  the  need.  In  that  of 
'65  it  is  said:  "  We  believe  the  time  has  come  when  provision 
should  be  made  for  theological  training  on  this  coast;  we 
believe  that  we  should  begin  at  once  to  supply  this  need." 

The  report  of  '66,  which  opened  the  way  for  final  action, 
was  still  stronger.  It  says:  "The  want  of  a  theological 
seminary  remains  the  same,  an  absolute  necessity,  in  order  to 
provide  our  population  with  a  ministry  at  once  sufficiently 
numerous,  sympathetic  and  homogeneous.  A  land  has  an 
immature  Christianity  that  exists  in  an  attitude  of  dependence 
on  distant  communities  for  its  outfit.  If  we  cannot  provide  our 
ministers  we  will  soon  be  incompetent  to  build  our  churches 
or  to  say  our  prayers." 

This  is  strong  language,  especially  from  such  a  carefully 
balanced  man  as  Dr.  Dwinell,  the  writer  of  the  report,  but  it 
voiced  the  now  culminated  conviction  in  the  minds  and  hearts 
of  those  who  were  bearing  the  burdens  of  the  kingdom  in  those 
early  days. 

How  do  we  explain  it?  How  account  for  this  persistent 
and  growing  feeling  of  the  need  of  a  home-trained  ministry? 
For,  as  we  have  seen,  that  conviction  did  arise,  and  kept 
rising  higher  and   higher  here  in  the  very  atmosphere  of 


258        Religious  Progress  on  the  Pacific  Slope 

the  work  as  the  workers  toiled  and  in  their  toil  saw  the  exigen- 
cies of  the  field.  They  keenly  sensed  the  evangeHcal  needs  of 
this  great  territory,  with  its  shifting  population,  its  measure- 
less possibilities,  and  its  uncertainties  of  development. 

This  was  realized  then  as  it  cannot  be  now.  The  attractive- 
ness of  California  was  little  known.  She  was  not  yet  wearing 
her  winsome  smile.  Her  balmy  airs  and  robes  of  beauty 
were  not  yet  beckoning  the  tourist  and  the  home-seeker. 
And  there  was  then  no  ready  and  easy  drift  of  ministers  this 
way  as  there  is  now. 

It  was  simple  and  easy  enough  for  our  two  or  three  leading 
churches  in  established  and  growing  cities  to  get  for  their 
pulpits  a  leading  or  promising  man  from  the  East,  but  for  the 
increasing  number  of  smaller  and  questionable  fields  to  get  a 
man  who  would  be  satisfied  to  take  up  the  critical  work,  and 
stay  by  the  job,  and  rise  or  fall  with  the  enterprise,  was  not 
only  difficult  but  was  becoming  more  and  more  so  every  year. 

Bear  in  mind  now  the  fact  that  the  few  who  came  here, 
under  the  auspices  of  the  Home  Missionary  Society,  in  the 
earlier  years,  had  been  carefully  selected,  and  called  by  the 
society  as  to  a  special  work.  The  society  did  very  much  as 
the  American  Board  did,  in  sending  its  missionaries  to  foreign 
fields.  It  paid  their  large  travelling  expenses  to  the  field,  as 
did  the  American  Board,  and  it  gave  them  an  exceptionally 
large  allowance  for  their  support.  In  fact,  the  society  almost 
seemed  to  regard  this  as  a  semi-foreign  field;  and  so,  in  a 
measure,  did  those  who  came.  The  society  indeed  almost 
insisted,  as  did  the  American  Board  in  those  days,  that  its 
missionaries  to  Cahfornia  should  be  married  men.  I  know, 
at  least  in  the  case  of  two  of  us,  that  it  suggested  holding 
up  our  day  of  saiHng  until  we  have  secured  better  halves. 
It  didn't  work  in  our  case. 

All  this  was  not  the  usual  custom  of  our  Home  Mission- 
ary Society,  and  it  did  not  keep  it  up.  As  early  as  the  sixties, 
it  ceased  to  commission  men,  and  fell  back  on  its  rule  of  aiding 


The  Faith  of  the  Founders  259 

churches.  This  naturally  affected  both  the  number  and 
quality  of  our  supply,  and  helped  to  stir  the  growing  convic- 
tion. Not  a  few  also  of  those  who  came  self-moved,  or  who 
had  been  called  or  sent  to  fields  that  proved  to  them  to  be  too 
small,  too  tough,  too  hard  and  disappointing,  drifted  about 
for  a  time  and  disappeared. 

For  instance,  of  one  of  them  who  came  in  1853,  Dr.  Benton 
a  little  later  wrote:  "  He  was  earnest,  genial,  companionable, 
hearty.  He  preached  well  and  gave  promise  of  long  and  good 
service.  But  it  was  rather  a  rough  time  in  our  history. 
The  work  was  exceedingly  hard.  His  courage  drooped.  A 
little  home-sickness  came  over  him,  and  he  started  East 
suddenly,  after  less  than  two  years  of  service."  In  '67  Dr. 
Warren  stated  that  fourteen  of  those  who  had  come  to  us  had 
already  drifted  back  East. 

And  then  there  were  the  places  of  promise  that  could 
not  be  occupied  with  the  forces  in  hand  or  in  prospect,  and 
there  was  the  great  future  looming  large,  all  helping  to  deepen 
this  conviction  that  there  was  no  other  way  of  securing  a 
suitable  and  adequate  ministry.  All  this  interprets  to  us,  at 
least  in  part,  the  stress  of  earnestness  for  a  seminary  in  those 
who  had  the  work  at  heart  in  those  early  years. 

But  may  there  not  be  something  more  than  this?  Can 
we  not  see  a  divine  leading  in  it?  May  it  not  be  that  the 
spirit  of  Christ  was  working  in  them  first  to  feel  and  realize, 
and  then  to  dare  and  do  in  his  name,  kindling  in  them  faith 
and  courage  to  put  forth  their  hand  to  create  this  important 
agency  for  the  promotion  of  his  kingdom?  The  solemnity 
that  filled  that  meeting  when  the  seminary  was  founded,  the 
marked  spiritual  uplift  that  was  manifest  on  that  occasion, 
and  the  signal  way  in  which  the  great  head  of  the  Church 
has  used  the  seminary  for  the  purpose  he  had  in  view,  would 
seem  to  indicate  this  divine  leading.  And  we  are  happy  to 
so  regard  it. 

We  pass  now  to  consider  the  steps  taken  in  the  establish- 


260        Religious  Progress  on  the  Pacific  Slope 

ment  of    the  seminary.     There  was  atmosphere  here  also. 
Let  us  try  to  breathe  it. 

Dr.  Tucker  of  Dartmouth  recently  made  the  remark  that 
the  essential  characteristic  of  the  Pilgrim  faith  was  courage  — 
exalted  and  enduring  courage.  The  history  of  Christianity, 
he  said,  is  a  record  of  those  who  have  dared  in  His  name. 
This  was  exemplified  and  verified  in  the  founding  of  the 
seminary.  It  was  started  in  no  burst  of  enthusiasm.  There 
were  anxious  hours.  There  were  sore  disappointments. 
There  was  travail  of  soul  before  the  birth.  From  start  to 
finish  it  was  a  venture  in  faith,  but  in  a  faith  that  failed  not, 
but  that  rose  and  kept  rising  to  meet  the  challenge  of  the  hour. 

Perhaps  it  would  be  proper  to  say  that  the  first  real  step 
involving  action  was  that  taken  in  1864,  —  already  referred 
to,  when  the  Association  virtually  said:  "Something  must 
be  done!  "  —  and  when  it  requested  the  Bay  Association  to 
take  the  matter  up,  study  it,  and  report  for  action.  This 
was  done,  and  the  report  was  brought  up  the  next  year  and 
presented  to  the  General  Association  by  your  present  speaker. 
Dr.  Mooar  also  presented  a  paper  on  the  subject,  and  his 
name  was  added  to  the  committee,  making  it  consist  at  that 
time  of  Drs.  Dwinell  and  Mooar,  and  Mr.  J.  M.  Haven. 
To  this  committee  these  papers  from  the  Bay  Association  and 
Dr.  Mooar  were  referred,  and  were  in  part  made  the  basis  of 
their  strong  report  in  1865.  In  adopting  that  report  the 
General  Association  definitely  faced  the  enterprise.  But  the 
steps  it  took  were  carefully  taken.  It  felt  sure  of  its  way  in 
adopting,  as  an  immediate  and  temporary  measure,  the  recom- 
mendation contained  in  the  overture  brought  from  the  Bay 
Association,  that  a  committee  be  at  once  appointed  to  decide 
what  candidates  for  theological  study  should  be  encouraged  in 
their  purpose,  and  to  conduct  the  studies  of  approved  candi- 
dates, personally  as  far  as  they  could,  and  indirectly  in  the 
whole  of  their  course,  and  to  give  certificates  of  the  completion 
of  a  satisfactory  course,  and  that  the  Revs.  Martin  Kellogg, 


The  Faith  of  the  Founders  261 

George  Mooar,  and  J.  A.  Benton  be  that  committee.  Here, 
you  see,  was  a  positive  step  forward,  a  year  before  the  day  we 
celebrate.  It  was  their  first  real  act  to  meet  the  need  of 
the  hour. 

The  other  actual  step  taken  by  the  association  in  1865 
was  a  tentative  one.  It  went  as  far  as  they  could  see  — 
nay,  as  far  as  they  could  believe.  It  was  altogether  a  step 
by  faith,  for  at  that  time  they  could  not  see  how  the  seminary 
that  would  fulfill  their  purpose  could  possibly  be  estabhshed 
and  carried  on  by  our  denomination  alone.  They  expressed 
their  sincere  conviction  at  that  time,  when  they  said  in  their 
report,  that  the  time  has  not  come,  and  will  not  come  for  many 
years,  when  any  one  denomination  on  this  coast  can  take 
this  work  on  itself  and  found  such  an  institution  alone.  They 
reasoned,  that  to  provide  one  set  of  buildings,  one  library, 
one  corps  of  professors,  was  all  that  the  resources  of  the 
State  —  meaning  all  the  denominations  —  would  justify 
us  in  attempting.  They  argued  strongly  for  the  feasibility 
of  this  union  effort,  and  showed  how  easily  and  happily  the 
various  denominational  interests  could  be  related  in  the  enter- 
prise, and  how  utterly  impossible  it  would  be  to  meet  our 
common  evangelical  wants  without  it.  It  was  also  their 
judgment  that  this  union  seminary  should  be  affiliated  with 
our  union  college.  Thereupon  a  special  and  able  committee 
was  appointed  to  lay  this  before  the  denominations  and  the 
college.  That  committee  labored  earnestly  for  a  half  year, 
from  October  to  April,  and  did  all  in  their  power  to  bring  this 
about,  but  from  not  a  single  denomination  nor  from  our  own 
college  did  they  receive  a  favorable  response.  They  had  come 
up  as  against  a  stone  wall. 

What  did  they  do?  Did  they  throw  up  their  hands  and 
quit,  because  of  their  irretrievable  failure  in  all  that  had  been 
entrusted  to  them  by  the  Association?  Far  from  it.  They 
took  it  as  a  challenge  to  their  faith  and  they  met  it  heroically, 
as  we  shall  see  later. 


262  Religious  Progress  on  the  Pacific  Slope 

To  get  the  atmosphere  here  more  perfectly  it  is  quite 
necessary  that  we  pause  a  Httle  and  take  a  brief  look  at  the 
union  efforts  that  had  preceded  this  ardent  hope  for  a  union 
seminary.     It  will  help  us  to  interpret  the  situation. 

The  principle  of  union  was  so  Christian;  it  was  so  attrac- 
tive to  the  brotherly  spirit;  it  was  so  full  of  promise  for  securing 
the  desired  results,  and  there  had  been  so  much  already  done 
in  our  state  by  joining  hands  with  others,  that  the  committee 
and  the  Association  were  moved  with  no  little  urgency  of 
spirit  and  confidence  of  success  for  union  in  this  crowning 
educational  work. 

And  we  cannot  doubt  that  this  effort,  though  the  disap- 
pointment in  the  failure  was  keen,  led  the  way  to  a  larger 
faith  in  ourselves.  It  was  also  greatly  worth  while  that  we 
should  thus  show  our  brotherliness  and  our  ruling  desire  to 
be  workers  together  with  others  in  the  Master's  cause.  And 
so  in  this  matter  now  in  hand  they  were  not  cautious.  They 
acted  on  their  noblest  impulse.  In  spite  of  what  may  have 
been  grounds  for  misgiving  and  hesitancy  they  still  hoped  for 
the  ideal  best.  They  were  undeterred  by  past  experience, 
as  they  might  well  have  been.  Let  us  see.  For  years,  as 
you  know,  our  Congregationalists  and  the  New  School  Presby- 
terians had  worked  together  under  the  plan  of  union.  They 
had  one  joint  Home  Missionary  Society,  one  common  superin- 
tendent, one  common  treasury,  and  one  common  interest  in 
the  work.  They  held  their  annual  meetings  at  the  same  time 
and  place,  and  met  in  joint  session  in  the  afternoon  and  eve- 
ning of  each  day.  The  reports  of  the  churches  were  given  in 
common.  They  united  in  the  communion,  and  the  annual 
sermon  was  preached  to  the  two  bodies  together.  The  great 
causes  of  education,  of  temperance,  of  Sabbath  observance, 
and  of  evangelization  were  discussed  and  voted  on  in  united 
session.  There  was  no  rivalry  as  to  fields,  or  denominational 
preferences.  In  fact  the  Presbyterians  seem  to  have  been  the 
more  favored,  for  of  the  23  missionaries  sent  to  our  state  by  our 


The  Faith  of  the  Founders  263 

Home  Missionary  Society  under  this  plan  of  union,  fifteen 
were  Presbyterian  and  only  eight  were  Congregationalists. 

It  has  been  said  that  our  First  Church  in  San  Francisco 
would  have  been  Presbyterian  under  its  first  pastor,  who  was 
a  Presbyterian,  if  there  had  not  already  been  a  Presbyterian 
church  there. 

The  First  Presbyterian  Church  of  San  Jose  was  mostly 
Congregational  in  its  make-up  but  the  home  missionary  who 
organized  it  was  Presbyterian  and  the  church  took  that  form. 
In  Santa  Cruz  the  Presbyterians  outnumbered  the  Congrega- 
tionalists, but  the  young  pastor  was  Congregational  and  the 
church  was  organized  that  way,  with  a  covenant  taken  from 
the  Howard  Street  Presbyterian  church,  which  had  copied  it 
from  a  New  England  Congregational  church.  And  so  it  went. 
The  two  denominations  dwelt  and  worked  together  in  unity; 
and  there  was  none  to  object. 

But  in  1861,  four  years  before  this  strenuous  effort  for  a 
union  seminary,  the  New  School  Presbyterian  Assembly, 
at  a  great  meeting  in  Syracuse,  N.Y.,  abrogated  this  plan 
of  union,  and  all  cooperation  in  Home  Missionary  work  was 
at  an  end.  From  this  on  the  two  bodies  no  more  met  or 
worked  together.  I  was  a  member  of  that  Assembly  and  from 
the  time  of  separation  took  my  place  in  the  ranks  of  the 
Congregationalists. 

It  may  be  interesting  to  note  here,  that  after  the  separa- 
tion our  Congregational  churches  increased  more  rapidly  than 
before.  More  of  them  were  organized  in  the  five  years  after 
the  separation  than  in  the  twelve  years  under  the  plan  of 
union.  And  when  our  Seminary  came  into  being  we  had 
more  than  twice  as  many  churches  as  our  New  School 
brethren  who  had  separated  from  us. 

In  view  of  these  things  it  is  little  less  than  marvelous 
that  the  association  and  its  committee  strove  so  earnestly 
for  cooperation. 

Then,  two  years  later,  in  1863,  The  Pacific,  which  the  two 


264        Religious  Progress  on  the  Pacific  Slope 

bodies  had  unitedly  started  in  1851,  and  maintained  for 
twelve  years,  came  up  for  our  special  consideration.  The 
first  two  editors  were  Presbyterians,  who  were  thoroughly 
satisfactory  and  loyal  to  the  interests  of  both  denominations. 
They  knew  no  difference,  but  in  1863  when  Doctor  Warren 
was  editor,  and  when  the  paper  was  a  mighty  force  in  our 
country's  cause  in  the  Civil  War,  the  synod  came  to  our 
association  and  said:  "  We  will  no  longer  work  with  you  in 
The  Pacific.  We  will  either  assume  or  relinquish  to  you  its  sole 
proprietorship,  with  its  debts."  The  association  unanimously 
voted  "  to  assume  the  paper  and  its  liabilities,"  not  as  it  then 
said,  as  an  organ  of  Congregationalism,  but  "  to  retain  it  in 
favor  of  education,  religion,  and  the  common  interests  of 
humanity."  It  has  been  true  to  this,  its  mission,  ever  since, 
an  abiding  force  for  righteousness  and  religion  on  our  coast. 
What  we  are  here  noting  is  that  the  association  of  '65  was 
undaunted  by  this  breach  of  fellowship  in  '63.  It  felt  that 
a  seminary  we  must  have,  and  that  we  could  have  it  only  by 
united  effort. 

Again  there  was  our  college  of  California  —  our  Union 
College.  Ours,  because  we  were  active  and  earnest  in  its 
estabhshment,  putting  into  it  our  hearts  and  our  means, 
and  fondly  hoping  that  it  was  to  fulfill  our  high  ideals  and 
aims  in  Christian  education,  which  have  ever  been  prominent 
in  the  sons  of  the  Pilgrims.  It  was  then  the  only  college,  and 
it  failed.  At  the  time  we  are  thinking  of,  its  financial  wheels 
were  dragging  heavily  as  in  desert  sands,  and  it  could  afford 
no  encouragement  to  our  effort  for  a  union  seminary.  It 
was  but  two  years  later  that  it  gave  itself  to  the  state,  and  our 
Union  Christian  college  was  no  more.  It  did  this  in  no  al- 
truistic spirit,  but  because  it  failed  to  get  the  means  to  live. 
It  gave  this  magnificent  site,  occupied  by  our  great  and  be- 
loved university,  and  its  Oakland  property,  now  of  immense 
value.  We  are  not  lamenting  this,  for  as  things  are,  and  the 
university  as  it  is,  it  may  be  quite  as  well  in  the  long  run  as  if 


The  Faith  of  the  Founders  265 

the  college  had  lived,  and  perhaps  better.  But  I  do  not 
hesitate  to  say  that  if  there  had  been  in  the  management  the 
same  grip  and  grit,  the  same  conquering  determination,  or, 
as  the  Hawaiian  swimmer  would  say,  the  same  using  up  all  the 
strength  and  then  holding  on  and  catching  the  second  breath 
and  the  third  breath  until  the  breakers  are  passed  and  the 
shore  is  reached,  that  we  find  among  our  seminary  founders 
in  its  early  history,  the  college  would  have  won  out  and  been  a 
great  institution  today.  In  fact  in  1869  Dr.  Willey,  who  had 
been  the  acting  president,  made  the  statement  that  if  even 
$25,000  could  have  been  secured,  the  college  would  have  lived. 
When  this  was  said  the  first  $25,000  for  the  seminary  had 
been  secured  and  the  second  was  well  under  way.  The 
college  had  a  wider  constituency  and  a  more  popular  ground 
of  appeal  than  the  seminary.  And  yet  the  single-handed 
seminary  won  and  the  many-handed  college  lost. 

It  was  in  the  face  of  such  discouragements,  past  and  pending, 
that  the  Association  and  its  committee,  took  their  stand  for  a 
union  seminary  as  the  only  hope. 

Having  now  said  what  I  have,  perhaps  I  had  better  pause 
another  minute  to  say  a  word  about  our  seminary  in  its 
present  status.  It  has  recently  made  itself  a  union  semi- 
nary. The  facts  I  have  stated  in  no  way  reflect  on  the  wisdom 
of  this.  But  it  surely  is  still  true,  that  if  we  or  any  other  body 
had  to  start  in  anew  today,  and  tried  to  found  a  seminary  on 
such  a  union  basis,  it  could  not  be  done,  any  more  than  it 
could  fifty  years  ago.  That  time  may  come,  but  is  not  now. 
The  seminary  stands  today  in  strength  an  institution  to  be 
proud  of,  and  it  can  and  does  offer  to  others  magnificent  privi- 
leges and  opportunities.  It  welcomes  them  as  to  its  mansion 
already  built;  not  only  to  share  its  hospitality,  but  to  have 
equal  part  in  the  good  work  that  it  is  doing.  It  was  no  more 
an  ecclesiastical  seminary  before  this  late  action  than  it  is 
now.  Its  founders,  in  1866,  after  the  failure  to  secure  the 
cooperation  of  others,   said:    "  Congregationalists  have   no 


266        Religious  Progress  on  the  Pacific  Slope 

ecclesiastical  system  that  can  build  seminaries."  "  For  all 
such  enterprises  they  throw  off  their  ecclesiastical  robes  and 
go  to  work  as  individuals.  Congregationalists  are  not  a  sect 
in  spirit;  and  a  Congregational  seminary  is  not  a  sectarian 
institution,  but  a  catholic  one,  and  such  we  purpose  to  have." 
So  said  the  founders  in  association  fifty  years  ago.  And, 
what  our  directors  have  now  done  is  not  to  uncongregational- 
ize  our  seminary,  but  to  give  larger  meaning  to  its  catholic 
spirit. 

To  return  now  to  the  steps  taken.  We  find  that  after 
their  disappointing  failure  to  secure  the  desired  cooperation, 
the  committee  did  some  earnest  thinking.  It  began  to  loom 
upon  them  that  Providence  had  hedged  up  their  path  to  lead 
them  in  a  better  way. 

That  better  way,  and  the  only  way  open,  they  saw,  was  for 
us  in  our  freedom  to  go  ahead  and  establish  a  seminary,  not 
for  ourselves  alone,  as  they  put  it,  but  for  all.  They  boldly, 
in  their  report,  step  up  on  the  higher  ground  of  our  denomina- 
tional fitness  for  this  very  thing  because  of  our  catholicity 
and  our  history.  And  there  is  something  of  a  ring  of  victory 
in  their  words,  as  that  utter  impossibihty  of  the  year  before 
now  became  to  them  the  thing  most  desirable,  and  that  weak- 
ness which  sent  them  to  others  for  help  was  now  seen  by 
them  to  be  even  an  advantage.  And  so  they  came  up  to  that 
meeting  in  1866  in  hope  and  heartiness,  finely  feathered  with 
faith  and  courage,  and  fully  prepared  to  recommend  the  action 
that  was  taken. 

It  was  however  in  no  feeling  of  self-confidence  that  they  did 
it.  They  frankly  said  that  it  would  be  best  to  begin  in  a 
humble  way,  avoid  the  expense  of  a  building,  and  have  not 
more  than  two  professors,  perhaps  but  one.  We  believe, 
they  modestly  said,  that  we  can  command  the  means  to  do 
so  much  very  soon,  and  that  Providence  will  provide  increased 
means,  as  our  necessities  demand. 

This  was  the  atmosphere  that  prevailed  in  that  memorable 


The  Faith  of  the  Founders  207 

meeting  of  1866,  as  without  dissent  they  solemnly  adopted 
that  culminating  resolution:  "  That  we,  the  Congregational- 
ists,  looking  to  God  for  his  guidance,  and  blessing  and  conse- 
crating the  enterprise  from  the  start,  to  Father,  Son,  and 
Holy  Spirit,  the  one  true  and  living  God,  enter  on  the  work  of 
estabhshing  a  theological  seminary." 

We  must  not  fail  to  catch  the  note  of  consecrated  earnest- 
ness that  there  was  in  this  action.  The  Association  in  itself 
was  a  notable  one.  It  was  devout  in  spirit.  It  had  four  half- 
hours  of  prayer.  It  had  three  sermons  —  the  Associational 
one  by  myself,  the  Home  Mission  one  by  R.  W.  Snowden,  and 
a  communion  sermon  by  Dr.  A.  L.  Stone,  who  had  come  to  the 
state  that  year. 

It  was  marked  also  by  careful  deliberation.  A  great 
issue  was  before  it,  and  that  issue  was  not  carried  by  the 
over-zeal  of  a  few  ministers.  Among  its  delegates  were 
our  strongest  and  most  level-headed  laymen.  They  were 
men  of  affairs,  large  minded  and  far  seeing.  I  do  not  think 
that  we  ever  had  in  all  our  history  an  association  or  con- 
ference quite  so  marked  by  the  attendance  of  leading  and 
efficient  business  laymen.  The  reputation  of  most  of  them 
has  come  down  in  our  churches  to  the  present  day.  Listen 
to  their  names:  Hon.  Ira  P.  Rankin,  who  was  the  modera- 
tor; L.  B.  Benchley,  Henry  Button,  E.  P.  Fhnt,  S.  A.  Chapin, 
J.  M.  Haven,  Noah  Brooks,  Samuel  Cross,  T.  W.  Tro- 
bridge,  D.  S.  Button,  S.  Pillsbury,  H.  H.  Lawrence,  O.  Chart, 
J.  W.  Cox,  P.  W.  Roberts,  G.  R.  Ellis  and  a  few  others. 

Among  these  are  some  of  the  best  and  most  brainy  men 
in  our  Congregational  history.  There  was  not  a  lady  dele- 
gate in  that  large  Association,  mirabile  dictu!  How  the 
times  have  changed!  Now  our  women  delegates  compete 
with  the  men  for  the  majority  in  our  conferences. 

And  the  ministers,  too!  I  might  as  well  give  most  of  their 
names.  They  rank  with  those  of  any  other  association  or 
conference.     They  knew  how  to  stand  on  both  feet  and  were 


268        Religious  Progress  on  the  Pacific  Slope 

far  from  being  carried  away  by  any  excitement  of  the  hour. 
They  were  such  men  as:  J.  A.  Benton,  George  Mooar,  I.  E. 
Dwinell,  W.  C.  Pond,  A.  L.  Stone,  Minot  J.  Savage,  W.  Frear, 
W.  L.  Jones,  J.  P.  Moore,  C.  H.  Pope,  S.  V.  Blakeslee,  E.  C. 
Bissell,  R.  B.  Snowden,  B.  N.  Seymour,  J.  E.  Benton,  J.  H. 
Warren,  Martin  Kellogg,  Joseph  Rowell,  I.  Thatcher,  P.  G. 
Buchanan,  M.  B.  Starr,  H.  Cummings,  J.  T.  Wills.  Did  we 
ever  on  the  whole  have  a  better  and  bigger  lot? 

Be  assured  that  these  men,  laymen  and  ministers,  took  in 
the  significance  of  what  they  were  doing.  With  eyes  wide 
open  and  beating  hearts  they  took  what  was  to  them  as 
an  association  the  final  step  in  the  founding  of  the  seminary. 
I  say  final  step,  for  so  it  was.  For  after  that  vote,  and  after 
the  adjournment  for  an  hour  that  its  members  might  unite  in 
establishing  the  seminary,  it  laid  down  the  burden  that  it  had 
carried  so  long. 

It  never  again  even  discussed  the  subject.  And  it  never 
again  had  a  committee  on  theological  education.  Its  work 
was  done.  The  seminary  had  begun  to  be.  True  the  As- 
sociation stood  back  of  it.  Now  and  then  it  voted  to  rec- 
ommend to  its  churches  to  take  an  offering  in  its  behalf. 
From  time  to  time  it  listened  with  sympathetic  interest  to 
its  financial  reports,  but  in  all  things  the  seminary  was  in- 
dependent of  the  Association.  It  managed  its  own  affairs, 
elected  its  own  officers,  prescribed  its  own  courses  of  study, 
and  was  responsible  to  itself  alone. 

The  Association  was  its  mother,  and  the  child,  in  a  measure, 
was  nursed  in  her  bosom,  but  she  never  guided  its  footsteps. 
For  a  long  time  it  was  in  the  creeping  stage.  It  toddled  its 
way  slowly,  with  many  an  embarrassment;  and  nearly  three 
years  elapsed  before  it  really  began  to  walk.  Its  struggles 
for  strength  to  begin  were  severe  and  sometimes  almost 
pathetic.  It  was  two  years  before  the  first  endowment  was 
sufficiently  assured  to  warrant  the  naming  of  Dr.  Benton  as  a 
first  professor,  and  it  was  a  half  year  more  before  instruction 


l^he  Faith  of  the  Founders  269 

began.  And  still  another  year  was  rapidly  passing  before  a 
second  endowment  of  $25,000  was  sufficiently  in  sight  to 
justify  the  naming  of  Dr.  Mooar  as  a  second  professor. 

It  was  at  this  point,  in  1870,  that  my  removal  to  Honolulu 
ended  my  four  years  of  service  as  trustee.  It  was  in  that 
decade  of  the  seventies  that  the  seminary  passed  through 
what  might  well  be  called  its  dark  ages.  From  the  grind 
and  groan  and  gloom  of  those  years,  when  income  failed, 
and  debts  kept  recurring,  and  professors  sometimes  labored 
without  salaries,  I  was  happily  spared.  The  story  of  those 
years,  and  the  gradual  surmounting  of  the  embarrassing 
conditions  is  a  continued  story  of  the  unflinching  faith  and 
courage  of  those  who  were  standing  by  the  work,  but  this 
does  not  belong  to  me  to  tell.  When  I  again  became  trustee 
in  the  eighties,  the  seminary  in  good  measure  had  come  into 
its  own.  Its  endowments  had  lifted  it  above  financial 
worry.  It  had  its  three  professors,  soon  to  be  increased  by 
two  more.  It  had  its  hopeful  body  of  graduates  working 
successfully  in  the  ministry,  and  a  future  radiant  with 
promise  before  it. 

It  remains  for  me  now,  in  the  short  time  I  have,  to  give 
you  a  further  insight  into  the  faith  and  courage  of  the  found- 
ers by  a  glance  into  the  conditions  then  existing. 

We  can  scarcely  realize  what  a  day  of  small  things  it  was 
as  compared  with  the  present.  Our  Cahfornia  has  never 
lacked  a  vision  of  future  greatness,  and  our  present  develop- 
ments may  seem  small  in  view  of  what  we  expect  them  to  be, 
but  they  are  simply  marvelous,  beside  those  of  fifty  years  ago. 
Its  resources  were  then  but  little  known.  Outside  of  its  mines 
and  wheat  fields  there  was  little  that  was  conspicuous.  Its 
orange  and  olive  groves,  its  orchards  and  vineyards,  that  now 
fill  our  valleys,  and  reach  up  our  sloping  hills,  and  give  bloom 
and  fruitage  in  stretches  of  miles  and  miles,  were  then  only  in 
patches  here  and  there.  The  great  commercial  importance  of 
it  all  was  hardly  in  sight.     Its  diversified  farming  with  irriga- 


270        Religious  Progress  on  the  Pacific  Slope 

tion  was  not  started.  Its  vast  possibilities  and  riches  in 
petroleum  were  undreamed  of.  Its  stupendous  resources  in 
electric  power,  giving  light  and  might  everywhere  and  vitalizing 
our  countless  industries,  had  not  even  come  into  mind.  Our 
largest  ship-building  plant,  that  now  has  contracts  on  hand 
for  over  a  score  of  millions  of  dollars,  did  not  lay  its  first 
keel  until  a  score  of  years  after  this,  and  this  but  typifies 
the  growth  in  many  industrial  Hues.  The  railroad  was  only 
beginning  to  take  the  place  of  the  stage  coach  and  the  freight 
team.  The  telephone  was  not  invented  and  did  not  begin 
to  talk  until  ten  years  later.  Of  course,  there  was  no  auto- 
mobile in  the  land.  The  day  of  the  many  rich  had  not  come. 
The  mining  princes  were  few,  and  the  great  land-holders  were 
often  land  poor.  There  was  then  no  Berkeley,  not  even  in 
name.  And  there  was  not  much  of  Oakland  or  of  Los  Angeles 
on  the  map.  The  cities  of  over  10,000  could  be  counted  on 
the  fingers  of  one  hand.  The  Overland  railroad  was  under 
way,  but  it  had  not  yet  reached  the  State  hne,  and  it  was 
three  years  short  of  completion  when  our  seminary  was  born. 
While  it  stimulated  expectation  of  greater  things  for  the  State, 
a  cloud  of  uncertainty,  at  that  time,  was  hanging  over  the 
builders.  Even  a  year  later  than  this,  the  wife  of  one  of  its 
four  magnates,  spending  a  few  weeks  of  outing  in  my  parish, 
said,  with  tears  on  her  cheeks,  that  they  did  not  know  whether 
they  were  to  be  milHonaires  or  penniless  bankrupts.  They 
were  far  from  confident  of  the  issue,  and  the  founders  of  the 
seminary  could  make  no  reckoning  on  them,  though  in  after 
years  some  munificent  gifts  were  received  from  that  source. 

In  all  this  we  can  see  the  faith  of  those  builders  as  they 
went  forth  to  build,  and  scarcely  less  can  we  see  the  faith 
of  our  founders,  in  view  of  the  times  and  conditions  thus 
disclosed. 

Again,  educationally  there  were  mountains  to  cross  that 
challenged  their  heroism.  In  this  respect  also  it  was  a  day 
of  small  things,  almost  unbelievable  as  contrasted  with  the 


The  Faith  of  the  Founders  271 

present.  We  now  have  our  two  magnificent  universities, 
with  their  thousands  of  students,  ranking  with  the  largest 
and  best  in  the  land.  We  have  our  high  schools  of  highest 
efficiency,  and  standing  in  their  enrollment  second  only  to 
that  of  New  York,  the  greatest  state  in  the  Union.  We  have 
our  flourishing  Pomona,  and  other  Christian  colleges,  and 
there  seems  to  be  no  advanced  educational  opportunity  that  is 
not  within  our  grasp. 

But  then,  in  that  fifty  years  ago,  what  meagerness  there 
was!  We  had  no  universities,  and  no  colleges,  except  our 
own  little  Union  College,  of  uncertain  tenure.  We  had  but 
three  or  four  high  schools  in  the  state,  and  none  of  suflBcient 
grade  to  prepare  boys  for  entrance  even  to  that  little  college 
of  ours,  unless  it  was  the  one  in  San  Francisco,  which  graduated 
its  first  class  in  1858,  and  did  not  have  a  classical  department 
until  1864  or  1865.  There  was  no  high  school  in  Oakland,  if 
my  information  is  correct,  until  a  year  after  our  seminary  was 
founded.  In  his  report  to  the  trustees  in  1865,  the  Acting 
President  of  our  college,  speaking  of  its  preparatory  depart- 
ment, makes  the  significant  statement  that  it  is  the  only  feeder 
of  the  college,  and  that  the  college  without  it  "  could  find  no 
students."     How  much  that  means! 

Surely  here  was  ground  for  discouragement  in  starting 
a  seminary!  Where  were  the  students  to  come  from?  It 
was  one  of  the  serious  problems  that  confronted  them.  They 
appointed  committees  to  consider  it.  They  discussed  it. 
They  saw  no  light  upon  it,  but  in  the  face  of  it  they  did  not 
falter.  When  the  seminary  started,  the  students  were  there, 
and  they  kept  coming. 

And  so  in  respect  to  the  churches.  Their  fewness  and 
smallness  would  seem  to  make  the  undertaking  hopeless. 
There  were  but  thirty-two  of  them  in  the  entire  state.  Now 
there  are  two  hundred  and  fifty.  More  than  half  of  those 
few  had  less  than  twenty  members  each.  The  majority  of 
them  were  dependent  on  Home  Missionary  aid.     Eleven  of 


272         Religious  Progress  on  the  Pacific  Slope 

them  were  so  weak  that  in  a  few  years  they  ceased  to  exist. 
But  two  of  them  had  a  resident  membership  of  over  one 
hundred  and  there  were  not  over  one  thousand  two  hundred 
resident  members  in  them  all.  At  that  time  there  was  not  a 
Congregational  church  in  all  California  south  of  Stockton  and 
Santa  Cruz.  There  were  four  in  San  Francisco,  and  only 
one  in  Oakland,  with  an  enrolled  membership  of  only  one 
hundred  and  forty-five.  Now  in  Alameda  County  alone  we 
have  over  five  thousand  members.     How  great  the  contrast! 

It  is  in  view  of  such  conditions  then  existing  that  we  get 
real  glimpses  of  the  faith  and  courage  of  the  founders.  Only 
by  straining  their  eyes,  as  they  peered  into  the  future,  could 
they  see  their  vision  of  hope.  In  that  vision,  as  they  saw  it, 
there  was  indeed  greatness,  but  they  clearly  saw  that  on  the 
long  road  to  that  greatness  there  were  sacrifices  and  hardships 
to  be  endured,  and  they  did  not  shrink.  They  were  great 
hearts  all  along  the  way  they  trod.  They  were  men,  who  when 
they  saw  a  great  duty,  some  great  thing  to  be  done  for  Christ 
and  his  kingdom,  had  the  courage  to  go  to  it  and  go  at  it, 
and  keep  at  it  until  it  was  done.  The  word  discouragement 
had  a  small  place  in  their  vocabulary.  They  were  patient. 
They  were  persevering.  They  were  responsive  to  high  callings. 
They  had  insight  and  foresight  and  they  were  not  afraid. 
Their  faith  in  God  was  their  courage. 

Today,  with  loving  hearts,  we  would  place  on  their  brow 
the  crown  of  fidelity,  or,  to  use  a  figure  of  Dr.  A.  L.  Stone, 
when  speaking  in  1867  of  our  pioneer  workers,  he  said: 
"  We  bend  over  them  a  triumphal  arch,  and  write  upon  it, 
in  letters  of  fire,  for  our  times  and  after  times  to  read :  '  Heroic 
Fidehty.'  " 

But  we  can  honor  them  best  not  by  words  of  praise.  They 
coveted  no  encomium.  We  can  honor  them  best  by  ourselves 
building  grandly  on  the  foundation  they  so  bravely  laid. 
We  can  honor  them  best  by  carrying  forward  and  fulfilling 
their  great  purpose  in  a  seminary  that  will  meet  the  needs  of 


The  Faith  of  the  Founders  273 

the  larger  years  that  are  rapidly  roUing  on,  and  by  keeping 
their  seminary  and  ours  true  to  the  high  evangelical  and 
evangelistic  mission  that  called  it  into  being. 

The  faith  and  courage,  the  prayer  and  effort  and  sacrifice 
that  have  gone  into  these  fifty  years  of  its  history  are  to  us  a 
splendid  preparation  for  the  greater  things  to  come.  All  that 
has  been  achieved  is  a  vantage  ground  gained,  as  they  say 
on  the  European  front,  for  further  advance.  With  such  a 
half  century  behind  us  what  ought  not  the  fifty  years  ahead  to 
produce! 

We  may  not  dream  dreams,  but  may  we  not  see  visions 
great  and  fair  that  our  centennial  will  see  realized? 


Chapter  XIV 

THE   FUTURE   OF   PACIFIC   SCHOOL   OF 
RELIGION 

President  Charles  Sumner  Nash,  A.M.,  D.D. 

In  these  days  Christianity  is  confronted  with  certain  mighty 
tasks  or  phases  of  its  age  long  task.  In  terms  famiUar  to  us 
all  they  may  be  stated  thus : 

1.  A  revaluation  of  the  Bible.  This  does  not  mean  a 
victory  of  newer  over  older  views  as  such,  nor  a  victory  of  any 
party  over  any  other  party.  It  means  a  recovery  of  faith  in 
the  Bible  and  renewal  of  experience  with  it  in  view  of  the  prog- 
ress of  modern  thought  and  life. 

2.  A  restatement  of  faith,  in  terms  of  life  and  in  consonance 
with  modern  thinking. 

3.  Religious  education,  developing  adequate  forces,  machin- 
ery and  methods  for  teaching  and  training  men,  communities 
and  nations  to  live  as  Christians. 

4.  Christian  missions,  to  fill  the  world  with  "  the  light  of 
the  knowledge  of  the  glory  of  God  in  the  face  of  Jesus  Christ." 

5.  "  Christianizing  the  social  order,"  as  the  phrase  is,  till 
men  dwell  together  governed  in  all  relations  by  the  love  and 
power  of  Christ. 

6.  The  reunion  of  Christendom;  for  the  Christian  conscience 
will  never  rest  below  the  level  of  the  Master's  prayer  that  His 
followers  be  one. 

7.  The  victory  of  universal  peace. 

8.  The  development  of  organized  philanthropy. 

This  vast  program  is  bent  on  the  transformation  of  the  world 
into  the  Kingdom  of  God.  All  schools  of  religion  are  engaged 
in  it  by  the  very  terms  of  their  existence,  as  their  single  and 
absorbing  purpose.     And  the  modern  demand  on  them  is  ex- 

274 


The  Future  of  the  School  of  Religion  275 

tremely  heavy.  In  past  generations  no  such  amount  and 
variety  of  service  was  thought  of  for  theological  seminaries. 
This  is  the  day  of  specialization,  as  truly  in  the  church  and 
rehgion  as  elsewhere.  No  one  man,  called  minister  or  pastor, 
can  give  all  that  is  expected  of  religious  leadership  today. 
We  must  have  specialists,  —  preachers,  pastors,  experts  in 
education,  administrators,  social  engineers,  pastors'  assistants, 
Sunday-school  leaders  and  teachers,  city  ministers,  rural 
ministers,  settlement  workers,  missionaries,  leaders  of  young 
people's  work,  Christian  Association  leaders,  —  and  if  that 
should  be  all  that  could  be  named  today,  there  would  be  more 
tomorrow.  And  Christian  people  are  now  looking  to  the 
theological  schools  to  train  this  diversified  ministry.  Much 
of  the  curriculum  and  apparatus  furnished  in  a  school  for 
ministers  is  useful  for  training  other  religious  leaders,  and  the 
widest  usefulness  must  be  gotten  out  of  it.  And  there  are 
decided  advantages  for  the  various  classes  of  rehgious  leaders 
in  associating  together  in  their  student  days.  This  is  not  the 
day  of  segregation  in  education  and  religion. 

Pacific  School  of  Rehgion  has  taken  the  larger  name  in  a 
resolute  purpose  to  answer  the  enlarged  demand.  We  aim 
to  be  much  more  than  a  school  of  theology  and  to  do 
more  than  train  men  for  the  ordained  ministry  of  the  church. 
The  more  specific  service  has  amply  justified  our  existence  for 
these  fifty  years;  we  hope  to  be  doubly  justified  by  the  ex- 
pansion and  specialization  to  which  we  aspire.  This  school  is 
making  a  sincere  effort  to  be  undenominational.  It  is  not 
controlled  by  "  the  powers  that  be  "  of  any  denomination,  but 
by  an  independent  board  of  trustees.  Five  denominations 
are  now  represented  in  that  board,  and  others  will  be  added. 
Scrupulous  care  is  taken  against  influencing  a  student  away 
from  his  own  denomination,  and  such  transfers  as  cannot  be 
prevented  are  regretted.  It  is  clearly  understood  that  such  a 
school  can  retain  the  confidence  of  the  various  denominations 
only  by  safeguarding  the  interests  of  each.     I  most  earnestly 


276        Religious  Progress  on  the  Pacific  Slope 

hope  to  keep  this  hour  free  from  any  note  of  rivalry  or  even 
comparison.  This  school  would  not  thrive  at  the  expense  of 
sister  schools.  It  covets  cooperation  with  them,  and  even 
union.  A  church  leader  on  the  Atlantic  seaboard  —  not  a 
Congregationahst  —  has  just  written  me  thus:  "  I  hope  the 
time  will  come  when  our  theological  seminaries  will  not  be 
denominational,  but  rather  territorial,  with  all  the  Protestant 
communions  patronizing  some  one  seminary  in  a  defined 
territory."  Many  of  us  devoutly  wish  we  might  go  forward  in 
that  way  of  united  power.  Some  of  us  at  least  may  attempt 
it,  though  others  feel  bound  to  continue  just  as  sincerely  in 
the  separate  denominational  way. 

A  territorial  seminary  being  for  the  present  out  of  the  ques- 
tion, I  am  to  sketch  a  large  development  of  this  one  school. 
This  paper,  however,  is  not  the  utterance  of  a  single  mind. 
It  represents  a  great  sum  of  most  earnest  thought,  conference 
and  prayer.  The  reader  is  but  a  spokesman  and  would  have 
you  feel  the  unanimous  urgency  of  the  many  minds  and  hearts 
behind  him.  Such  an  anniversary  makes  the  hour  momen- 
tous. Its  critical  character  is  shown  chiefly  in  what  hes  at 
our  hand  to  do  and  in  the  fact  that  it  presses  now.  The 
things  demanded  of  us  might  be  displayed  under  the  three 
terms,  improvement,  adjustment  and  expansion.  I  do  not 
care,  however,  to  make  these  three  distinct  divisions  of  my 
paper.  But  these  are  the  three  processes  which  must  be 
continuous  in  our  advance.  We  must  constantly  improve 
what  we  have,  our  curriculum,  our  equipment  and  apparatus, 
our  use  of  it  all  from  day  to  day  and  month  to  month.  We 
must  steadily  adjust  and  adapt  it  all  to  our  objects  and  obhga- 
tions,  to  our  students,  to  the  churches,  to  all  cooperating 
agencies,  to  all  possible  recipients  of  our  service.  And  we 
must  persistently  expand  to  meet  enlarging  requirements; 
for  the  calls  upon  such  a  school  never  end. 

An  increasing  body  of  students  is  the  first  desideratum 
for  an  institution  in  early  stages  of  growth.     Our  numbers 


Presidknt   C.harles   Sumner  Nash,   D.I). 


The  Future  of  the  School  of  Religion  277 

for  1912-13  were  twenty-three;  for  1913-14,  twenty-five;  for 
1914-15,  thirty-seven;  for  1915-16,  forty.  At  this  moment 
our  students  number  forty.  Should  we  include  all  from  our 
sister  schools  who  register  in  our  various  courses,  our  total 
would  be  much  higher  —  just  now,  fifty-one.  These  are 
excellent  numbers,  but  we  are  already  equipped  to  care  for 
many  more.  We  are  known  in  the  colleges  of  this  coast  and 
in  hundreds  of  colleges  to  the  eastward.  It  is  time  to  multiply 
our  contacts  and  cultivate  thoroughly  our  normal  college 
constituency.  We  should  come  as  near  as  possible  to  an  an- 
nual or  biennial  visitation  of  the  colleges  of  the  Pacific  Slope 
and  as  far  east  as  the  Mississippi  River.  Members  of  our 
student  body  will  often  be  our  best  ambassadors  to  colleges  not 
too  far  away.  And  with  promising  students  in  the  colleges 
we  should  maintain  connection  through  letters  and  carefully 
prepared  Hterature.  Such  recruiting  of  the  ministry  is  ex- 
pensive in  time  and  money  and  labor,  but  it  is  indispensable. 
In  no  cheaper  way  can  the  ministry  and  other  forms  of  Chris- 
tian leadership  win  the  choice  youth  of  our  colleges. 

Faculty  and  students  compose  the  nucleus  of  an  educational 
institution.  Given  a  growing  and  urgent  body  of  teachers 
and  pupils,  and  the  other  essentials  are  sure  to  come.  The 
words  of  appreciation  which  I  would  utter  with  admiration 
and  love  about  our  present  faculty  I  shall  not  pause  to  speak; 
these  brethren,  their  personal  worth  and  institutional  value 
are  highly  esteemed  by  you.  They,  being  such  as  they  are, 
leave  nothing  to  be  desired  except  others  like  them  and  equal. 
The  time  has  come  for  additions  to  our  faculty.  As  we  now 
stand,  we  cannot  seize  the  opportunity.  Liberal  equipment 
of  certain  departments  is  demanded  at  the  earliest  moment. 
The  first  of  these  is  the  department  of  missions  and  comparative 
rehgion.  Our  occupant  of  that  chair  is  at  work,  but  the 
department  is  not  adequately  endowed.  Beyond  a  single 
instructor,  a  number  of  further  provisions  go  to  form  such  a 
department   of   missions    and    comparative   religion   as   the 


278        Religious  Progress  on  the  Pacific  Slope 

foreign  service  of  the  church  now  requires.  More  instruc- 
tion in  the  rehgious  and  social  conditions  of  mission  lands  and 
the  methods  of  modern  missions  than  one  man  can  possibly 
give  calls  for  additional  speciaHsts.  And  some  of  the  languages 
of  mission  lands  must  be  taught,  and  that  too  through  modern 
phonetics.  Our  great  missionary  boards  now  insist  that  their 
young  missionaries  should  have  the  completed  training  of  the 
regular  schools  plus  a  year  or  two  of  special  training  in  mis- 
sions. The  sun  is  already  many  hours  high  in  the  new  day 
of  Christian  missions.  And  besides  all  this,  our  expected 
department  of  missions  will  find  an  extended  field  of  training 
and  service  among  our  conglomerate  immigrant  populations 
here  and  will  render  expert  and  effective  influence  in  the  tense 
international  issues  of  the  times.  Our  opportunities  and 
obligations  of  this  kind  here  in  Cahfornia  surpass  those  of 
any  other  section  of  our  country. 

What  is  called  rehgious  education  or  pedagogy  constitutes 
a  second  imperative  department.  Christian  people  have 
discovered  the  importance  of  educational  processes  in  reUgion. 
They  are  now  aware  that  religion  is  a  matter  of  sharp  crises 
in  minor  part  only,  while  for  the  most  part  it  is  slow  and 
painstaking  study  and  practice  to  the  end  of  steadfast  daily 
living,  as  Jesus  hved  in  the  power  of  God,  and  becoming  such 
as  Jesus  was  in  the  fibre  and  force  of  character.  A  vast 
volume  of  instruction  and  training  in  rehgion  is  now  in  prog- 
ress in  Sunday  schools  and  Christian  Associations,  in  Christian 
Endeavor  and  other  young  people's  societies,  and  all  over  the 
world  of  foreign  missions.  The  movement  is  extended, 
determined,  intelHgent  and  organized  to  bring  rehgious  educa- 
tion up  to  grade.  In  this  as  in  every  hne  of  human  endeavor 
supreme  strategy  demands  an  adequate  supply  of  trained 
leaders  and  teachers.  Every  ordained  minister  should  be 
well  prepared  to  instruct  and  lead  his  Sunday-school  teachers 
and  to  use  educational  methods  throughout  his  work.  The 
larger  churches  must  be  supplied  with  assistant  leaders  in 


J^  The  Future  of  the  ScJwol  of  Religion  279 

education,  called  pastors'  assistants,  associate  or  assistant 
pastors,  or  by  some  other  name.  Schools,  colleges  and  uni- 
versities are  installing  chairs  of  Biblical  literature  and  religious 
education  under  various  titles.  The  great  mission  boards  not 
only  conduct  thousands  of  schools  and  colleges  of  their  own, 
providing  courses  in  the  Bible  and  religion  and  permeated  with 
the  practice  of  religion,  but  these  boards  are  taking  the  lead  in 
creating  popular  education  for  the  vast  non-Christian  world. 

There  is  thus  a  reasonable  and  urgent  demand  that  schools 
for  training  expert  leaders  in  religion  should  include  a  well- 
equipped  department  of  religious  pedagogy  furnished  with 
more  than  a  single  instructor,  and  before  long  with  buildings 
of  its  own.  The  churches  within  reach  of  such  a  training 
school  should  be  given  the  most  capable  guidance  and  help. 
An  experimental  Sunday  school  of  the  finest  quality  should 
be  maintained.  Teachers'  institutes  should  be  offered  at 
convenient  centers.  In  such  ways  a  department  of  religious 
pedagogy  may  become  one  of  the  most  useful,  —  helpful  im- 
mediately on  the  spot,  while  far-reaching  in  time  and  space 
through  its  graduates. 

Pastoral  and  social  service  may  be  the  title  of  a  third  de- 
partment. Our  present  instruction  under  this  caption  is  of  a 
high  order  and  inspiring  power.  What  is  wanted  is  more  of  it. 
There  is  work  enough  to  claim  a  man's  full  time.  On  the 
academic  side  he  should  cooperate  with  the  university  de- 
partment of  sociology.  On  the  practical  side  he  should 
develop  relations  with  the  churches,  near  and  far,  with  all  lines 
and  agencies  of  social  betterment,  with  all  issues  and  move- 
ments in  the  world  at  large.  He  should  have  charge  of  all 
the  outgoing  parts  of  our  students'  study  and  work.  He 
should,  along  with  the  professor  of  homiletics,  arrange  and 
superintend  their  preaching  and  train  them  in  sane  and 
fruitful  personal  evangelism.  He  should  give  them  first- 
hand experience  of  all  accessible  forms  of  social  improvement. 
And  with  all  this  he  must  know  how  to  prepare  those  pupils 


280        Religious  Progress  on  the  Pacific  Slope 

who  are  to  enter  the  regular  ministry  for  the  pastoral  side  of 
their  parish  work,  conserving  the  age-long  values  in  it,  but 
putting  these  in  modern  terms  of  social  service  and  relating 
them  to  the  complex  hfe  of  the  modern  day.  The  useful- 
ness of  the  right  man  in  such  a  chair  cannot  be  measured  in 
advance,  —  a  man  with  the  spirit  and  leadership  of  Graham 
Taylor  or  Raymond  Robins  or  Albert  Palmer,  —  a  man  with 
pastoral  experience  behind  him,  wise,  alert,  on  fire  with  love 
of  God  and  men,  obedient  to  the  heavenly  visions  of  our  own 
day. 

A  fourth  department  must  needs  come  to  join  us  and  should 
come  at  an  early  day.  Our  hfe  is  intertwining  with  that  of  the 
great  university  here.  Six  thousand  young  men  and  women 
have  come,  and  there  are  always  more  to  follow.  And  just 
beyond  our  sight,  within  our  reach,  stretches  away  the  far- 
flung  hne  of  colleges  and  universities  wherein  the  leaders 
of  the  world  are  growing.  They  are  too  largely  as  sheep  with- 
out a  shepherd,  and  before  them  "  so  many  gods,  so  many 
creeds,  so  many  paths  that  wind  and  wind." 

Institutions  hke  ours  owe  these  youth  counsel  and  clear 
rehgious  thinking,  deliverance  and  the  divine  choice  of  the  right 
life.  Here  is  glorious,  laborious  ministry  for  the  fit  man  giving 
a  large  measure  of  his  time  to  the  colleges.  Along  with  his 
student  work  he  could  do  much  pubHc  speaking  in  and  out  of 
the  churches.  And  some  fraction  of  the  school  year  he  should 
spend  in  some  line  of  instruction  in  our  own  halls.  The 
testimony  of  Hartford  Seminary,  Union  Seminary,  Garrett 
Bibhcal  Institute,  and  other  institutions  which  sustain  such  a 
professor  is  unanimous  to  the  general  helpfulness  of  his  work 
and  the  strong  young  men  he  secures  for  the  ministry  and 
incidentally  for  his  own  seminary. 

These  four  departments,  —  missions  and  comparative 
rehgion,  religious  pedagogy,  pastoral  and  social  service,  and 
university  service  —  are  all  that  I  care  to  mention  today. 
Two  of  them  —  missions  and  pedagogy  —  are  destined   to 


The  Future  of  the  School  of  Religion  281 

considerable  size  and  may  grow  into  schools.  It  is  impossible 
to  tell  their  future,  keeping  in  mind  such  examples  as  the 
Hartford  School  of  Pedagogy  and  Kennedy  School  of  Mis- 
sions, and  the  departmental  development  at  Yale  and  Union 
and  Chicago.  This  coast  is  still  pioneer  ground,  but  at  this 
moment  we  are  forecasting  the  distant  future.  Some  years 
ago  I  heard  Judge  Haven,  father  of  our  present  treasurer, 
predict  that  there  were  young  men  then  hearing  him  who  would 
live  to  see  twenty-five  milhons  of  people  living  around  San 
Francisco  Bay.  I  fear  the  prophet  saw  the  future  somewhat 
foreshortened,  but  that  miscalculation  was  trifling.  When 
twenty-five  millions  shall  have  arrived  it  will  still  be  the  early 
morning  of  this  western  coast,  the  early  morning  of  institu- 
tions such  as  ours  which  serve  the  inmost  interests  of  immortal 
souls  and  the  supreme  needs  of  human  society. 

While  these  additions  to  faculty  and  student  body  are  being 
accomplished,  readjustments  are  inevitable  for  the  enrich- 
ment of  the  school  life  within,  and  its  further  helpfulness  out- 
side. Groups  of  courses  may  be  arranged  for  several  classes 
of  religious  leaders;  e.g.,  for  pastors'  assistants,  directors  of 
religious  education,  Sunday-school  experts,  social  service 
workers,  deaconesses,  Y.  M.  and  Y.  W.  C.  A.  leaders,  foreign 
missionaries,  city  and  settlement  workers,  rural  pastors. 
The  library  and  its  uses  must  be  provided  for,  and  that  in  no 
small  way,  but  amply  and  with  large  margin  for  growth. 
Our  funds  for  student  aid  must  be  not  simply  added  to,  but 
multiplied.  New  methods  of  administering  these  funds  seem 
wise  and  desirable,  but  that  such  funds  are  necessary  admits 
of  no  question.  There  must  also  be  graduate  scholarships 
and  fellowships  to  answer  the  ambitions  of  most  aspiring 
students  and  to  promote  higher  specialization  through  ad- 
vanced study. 

Along  another  angle  of  our  development  there  is  a  promising 
service  to  be  offered.  It  is  the  extension  work  which  so  many 
institutions  are  carrying  to  large  proportions.     Many  theo- 


282        Religious  Progress  on  the  Pacific  Slope 

logical  schools  have  at  least  begun  it,  as  has  this  school  in  a 
small  way.  And  such  schools  will  be  looked  to  for  it  more  and 
more.  One  item  in  it  will  be  the  use  of  our  buildings  and  forces 
for  summer  sessions,  real  study  sessions  such  as  we  carried  on 
in  1915  or  shorter  institute  sessions  such  as  we  offered  a 
number  of  years  ago  here  in  Berkeley  and  the  summer  just 
past  in  Los  Angeles.  Such  school  sessions,  or  more  easily 
such  institutes,  may  be  given  at  other  important  centers  of  the 
Coast  as  their  helpfulness  becomes  apparent.  For  several 
years  there  has  come  to  us  now  and  then  an  inquiry  for 
correspondence  courses.  The  time  may  arrive  soon  when 
we  shall  be  able  to  provide  such  courses  if  the  call  for  them 
gathers  volume.  And  by  still  further  provision  for  inter- 
change of  thought  and  data  this  school  may  become,  as  another 
has  phrased  it,  "  a  clearing-house  of  ideas  and  methods  of 
church  work  for  pastors  in  active  service."  I  have  a  friend  in 
Chicago  who  has  developed  to  large  influence  a  bureau  of 
related  industries  on  the  principle  which  he  calls  "  the  rehgion 
of  business."  A  similar  bureau  for  exchange  of  data  and  the 
promotion  of  friendly  cooperation  among  churches  and  their 
schools  might  grow  to  large  importance  on  the  principle  of 
the  business  of  rehgion.  Such  extension  work  as  is  here 
indicated  this  school  of  religion  would  willingly  undertake 
as  far  as  the  demand  arises  and  required  resources  can  be 
obtained. 

Such  growths  in  size  and  service  must  have  home  and  work- 
shop. On  the  new  and  distinguished  site  recently  acquired, 
or  beginning  thereon  at  least,  buildings  must  rise  worthy  and 
adequate  for  the  future  so  meagerly  sketched.  How  much 
that  means  in  the  long  future,  no  one  can  predict.  Room  and 
apparatus  for  all  the  curriculum  work  and  current  manage- 
ment is  the  first  necessity.  Room  and  apparatus  too  for 
missions  and  pedagogy,  their  instruction  and  their  practice; 
room  and  apparatus  adapted  to  the  different  purposes,  group- 
ings and  kinds  of  students;    room  and  apparatus  for  the 


The  Future  of  the  School  of  Religion  283 

several  lines  of  extension  work;  room  and  books  and  adminis- 
tration to  make  the  library  meet  without  stint  the  augmenting 
requirements  of  general  study,  of  special  investigation,  of 
public  usefulness  —  all  this  is  of  the  essence  of  our  growth. 
There  must  also  be  dormitories,  for  it  will  not  be  wise  to  sur- 
render the  dormitory  system.  Not  all  our  buildings  need  be, 
probably  not  all  could  be,  on  this  limited  site.  Religious 
education  quarters  may  have  to  be  elsewhere.  We  may 
develop  a  social  settlement  of  our  own  in  some  needy  part  of 
these  cities.  Our  dormitories  need  only  be  within  easy  reach 
of  school.  I  should  like  to  be  long-sighted  enough  to  make  a 
larger  and  clearer  prediction  of  buildings,  their  locations, 
furnishings  and  uses.  But  these  are  only  our  tabernacle,  and 
they  come  and  go  "  by  divers  portions  and  in  divers  manners." 

Thus  have  I  tried  to  give  you  a  long  look  ahead.  I  do  not, 
however,  wish  to  leave  you  in  a  leisurely  mood.  Some  of 
these  advances  must  wait,  for  no  extended  program  can  be 
realized  in  a  moment.  But  the  beginnings  are  pressing  for 
action.  Inquiries  from  students  are  coming  in  for  the  depart- 
ment of  missions.  Word  has  come  that  in  this  state  alone 
there  are  several  hundred  Christian  Endeavor  members  pledged 
to  the  foreign  field  or  actively  considering  it.  Pledges  toward 
the  work  and  endowment  of  this  department  are  already  in 
hand.  The  mission  boards  and  the  Board  of  Missionary 
Preparation  are  urging  such  departments  or  schools,  as  Dr. 
Sanders  is  here  to  say  officially,  and  this  coast  stands,  in  the 
view  of  these  leaders,  forward  on  the  firing  line.  It  is  not  for 
this  union  school  of  religion  to  hold  back,  standing  here  in  the 
chief  center  of  education,  close  to  the  splendid  Oriental  de- 
partment of  the  University  of  California. 

As  for  religious  education,  calls  for  its  work  both  within  and 
beyond  the  classroom  are  piling  up.  Churches  and  Sunday 
schools,  private  schools  and  colleges  are  inquiring  for  rehgious 
pedagogy  specialists.  The  schools  now  in  operation  cannot 
supply  the  demand.     A  national  leader  in  this  department  has 


284        Religious  Progress  on  the  Pacific  Slope 

said  recently  that  three  hundred  such  experts  could  be  placed 
if  they  were  at  hand. 

How  exigent  the  present  hour  is  for  the  swiftest  and  farthest 
developments  in  social  Christianity  no  one  need  be  told. 
Preachers  and  leaders  who  are  most  versed  in  social  applica- 
tions of  the  Gospel  get  the  largest  following.  Candidates  for 
religious  leadership  clamor  for  this  phase  of  training  and  go 
where  they  find  it  best.  And  bound  up  with  this  department 
is  that  problem  of  practical  field-work  for  students  which 
perplexes  every  theological  faculty. 

For  some  years  now  the  tides  of  student  hfe,  which  had  been 
ebbing  away  from  religion  and  the  church,  have  been  running 
in  again.  Increasing  numbers  are  tending  toward  rehgious 
hfe-work  and  even  toward  the  ordained  ministry,  home  and 
foreign.  There  is  abundant  reason  for  more  active  recruiting 
work  in  the  colleges.  More  than  ever  is  attention  turned  to 
such  schools  as  ours,  equipped  or  to  be  equipped  for  training 
many  kinds  of  leaders  and  workers  besides  ministers;  and  this 
larger  use  of  present  resources  in  heu  of  new  schools  for  special 
sorts  of  rehgious  workers  should  be  hastened  to  meet  the  de- 
mand. As  has  already  been  pubhcly  announced,  we  have  in 
sight  an  offer  of  a  hbrary  building,  conditional  on  securing 
another  building.  All  these  considerations  urge  forward 
action  by  the  very  challenge  of  work  and  duty. 

And  today  we  rejoice  together  on  a  crest  of  years.  The 
crest  is  not  high,  the  years  not  many,  the  run  has  not  yet  been 
long.  We  are  not  old  enough  to  be  decrepit,  but  old  enough 
to  be  known  as  not  dying  in  infancy,  and  as  having  caught  our 
footing,  taken  our  bearings  and  laid  our  course.  We  have 
more  than  three-quarters  of  a  milhon  of  property,  whereby 
our  coming  benefactors  may  know  that  they  contribute  to  a 
stable,  solvent  and  well-managed  institution.  We  have  a 
strong  and  loyal  body  of  alumni,  of  whose  services  in  the  field 
a  splendid  account  can  be  given,  who  are  eager  to  do  all  they 
can  for  an  alma  mater  whom  they  believe  in  and  love.     Our 


The  Future  of  the  School  of  Religion  285 

board  of  trustees  not  only  administers  our  resources  with 
great  financial  ability,  but  gives  us  cordial  support  in  the 
present  and  faith  in  the  future,  believes  that  our  work  of 
training  leaders  is  the  supreme  strategy  of  religion  and  the 
church,  and  would  lead  a  spirited  advance.  In  March,  1914, 
the  Rev.  Anson  Phelps  Stokes,  Secretary  of  Yale  University, 
read  an  address  before  the  National  Religious  Education 
Association,  entitled  ''  University  Schools  of  Religion."  He 
presented  a  study  of  the  conditions  of  theological  education 
in  the  country  and  advocated  the  consolidation  of  many  of  the 
smaller  seminaries  and  the  concentration  of  ministerial  training 
at  a  few  chief  educational  centers.  Naturally  he  regarded 
Yale  as  the  worthiest  illustration  of  his  proposition.  But  he 
named  six  centers  as  "  worthy  of  development  and  doubtless 
each  fitted  to  make  its  distinctive  contribution  to  the  cause,  — 
Cambridge,  New  Haven,  New  York,  Chicago,  Oberlin,  and 
Berkeley,  California."  Here  is  testimony,  and  there  is  much 
more,  that  Berkeley  stands  in  the  eyes  of  national  leaders  as 
one  of  the  few  greatest  centers  to  which  the  most  should  be 
given  and  then  from  it  the  most  required,  not  only  in  general 
education,  but  also  in  our  own  line  of  professional  training. 

What,  then,  shall  we  do  about  it?     Let  me  repeat  in  skeleton 
our  primary  needs  and  duties. 

1.  Plans  and  resources  for  serving  the  colleges  and  recruiting 
the  ranks  of  religious  leaders. 

2.  The  addition  of  new  departments,  —  missions,  pedagogy, 
social  service,  college  service. 

3.  Student  aid  funds;   last  year,  because  of  growing  num- 
bers, we  overdrew  this  part  of  our  income  by  $800. 

4.  Special  funds  for  extension  work,  or  else  increased  general 
endowment  from  which  such  work  can  be  begun. 

5.  Funds  for  library  furnishings  and  administration;  for 
what  can  an  educational  institution  do  in  lack  of  these? 

6.  Buildings:    an  administration  and  instruction  building, 
a  hbrary,  a  chapel.     Upon  my  paper  new  buildings  fall  last. 


286        Religious  Progress  on  the  Pacific  Slope 

Some  of  you  believe  that  they  should  be  first,  or  at  least  near 
the  head  of  the  column.  A  good  argument  can  be  made  for 
that,  a  better  argument  every  year  we  live  on  in  this  dear  old 
building.  I  wonder  if  the  hour  for  the  first  and  second  build- 
ings to  rise  together  is  not  even  now  striking? 

Let  me  remind  you  again  of  the  significant  occasion,  fifty 
years  ago  yesterday  and  today,  when,  enthusiastic  under  the 
divine  constraint,  held  to  a  great  task  by  the  Spirit  of  God, 
our  church  fathers  took  the  solemn  action  which  launched  this 
institution  on  its  long  upward  course.  Fresh  accounts  of  the 
faith,  the  courage,  the  united  resolution  of  that  hour  have 
stirred  us  this  week.  Many  of  us  have  heard  of  it  before  from 
Dr.  Pond,  the  only  Hving  member  of  the  committee  which  led 
the  way  just  then.  I  have  a  letter  from  him  now  in  which  he 
writes:  *'  I  pray  God  that  the  Golden  Jubilee  of  our  seminary 
may  be  marked  in  its  history  as  a  new  epoch  through  the 
manifest  presence  with  you  of  the  Holy  Spirit.  This  manifes- 
tation was  granted  fifty  years  ago  with  memorable  distinctness 
at  the  session  of  our  General  Association  in  Sacramento,  at 
which,  few  and  weak  though  our  churches  were,  it  was  resolved 
to  undertake,  as  our  part  in  religious  education  on  the  Pacific 
Coast,  the  founding  of  a  theological  seminary.  We  realized 
our  utter  inabihty  to  fulfill  through  strength  or  resources  of 
our  own  the  virtual  pledge  we  were  making,  but  in  the  strength 
of  our  Master  and  Leader  we  attempted  the  impossible,  and  it 
is  the  success  of  this  attempt  that  gladdens  our  hearts  today." 

We  stand  today  in  no  such  weakness.  We  face  undertak- 
ings which  cannot  look  so  desperate  to  human  effort  as  that 
one  looked  to  them.  But  this  institution  and  its  work  are  as 
divine  now  as  then  and  can  no  more  be  prospered  apart  from 
God.  In  Him,  however,  we  can  do  all  that  belongs  to  us  as 
bravely  and  effectively  as  they  did.  The  inhabitants  of  the 
land  may  appear  hke  sons  of  Anak  when  we  go  up  against 
them,  but  we  are  well  able  to  win  them  to  our  enterprise. 
God  is  with  us,  and  we  shall  go  forward  as  He  leads, 


PART  IV 

THE  LARGER  MINISTRY  OF  SCHOOLS  OF 
RELIGION 


Chapter  XV 

THE   POSSIBILITIES   OF  A  SCHOOL   OF   RELIGION 
ON  THE  PACIFIC  COAST^ 

President  J.  H.  T.  Main,  LL.D. 
GrinneU  College 

Every  age  must  rethink  its  religion  in  terms  of  its  own 
experience.  It  is  only  when  a  period  is  very  unprogressive 
that  it  can  content  itself  to  use  the  formulations  of  the  past. 
We  must  rethink  and  restate  rehgion  in  relation  to  the  needs 
and  experiences  of  our  own  times.  Rehgion  is  naturally  con- 
servative. There  is  always  danger  lest  its  conservatism 
put  it  out  of  touch  with  a  rapidly  growing  and  rapidly  chang- 
ing hfe.  There  is  a  widespread  feehng  that  the  church  is 
not  meeting,  as  it  should,  the  demands  and  needs  of  the 
present  day,  that  it  is  not  making  a  vital  contribution  to 
present-day  life.  However  exaggerated  this  feeling  may  be, 
it  is  indicative  of  the  fact  that  the  church  is  not  thought  to 
be  growing  in  harmony  with  the  changing  spirit  of  the  age. 
There  has  been  a  tendency  for  it  to  let  the  current  of  the 
world's  hfe  go  by,  and  to  chng  to  the  few  adherents  whom  it 
could  hold  loyal  to  outgrown  methods  and  outgrown  ways  of 
thinking.     To  do  this  is  slow  suicide. 

There  is  nothing  more  needed  in  the  world  today  than  a 
reinterpretation  of  Christianity  in  terms  of  today's  needs. 
There  is  nothing  needed  more  than  an  insight  into  the  trend 
of  life,  and  adaptation  of  the  religious  conception  of  life  to 
that  trend.  The  vital  phrases,  the  thrilhng  ideas,  of  the  past 
generation  are  becoming  merely  empty  words.  This  is  not 
because  they  lack  truth  in  themselves  or  vitality,  but  because 
they  no  longer  fit  our  needs  or  our  growing  understanding  of 

1  An  address  at  the  dinner  of  Trustees  and  Faculty,  October  10,  1916. 

289 


290        Religious  Progress  on  the  Pacific  Slope 

the  world  and  life.  We  are  living  too  much  in  our  past.  We 
are  much  in  the  position  of  the  Jewish  church  at  the  time  of 
the  coming  of  Christ,  which  had  crystallized  into  forms  that 
were  great  and  vital  when  new,  but  had  ceased  to  permit  of 
further  expansion. 

The  Pacific  coast  is  in  a  pecuharly  favorable  position  for 
constructive  work.  It  is  a  new  country.  Its  Ufe  has  not 
been  as  yet  crystallized  into  set  molds.  It  is  fluid.  It  can, 
with  far  less  opposition  and  struggle,  work  out  a  new  inter- 
pretation of  rehgious  truth.  Its  pioneer  spirit  is  not  dead. 
It  is  hospitable  to  growth  and  change.  Its  faults  arise  from 
this  fact  and  its  opportunities  equally  arise  from  it. 

From  the  Pacific  Coast  may  well  come  a  new  current  of 
living  rehgious  inspiration  that  will  revitahze  the  rest  of  our 
thinking.  You  are  not  pioneers  in  the  sense  that  you  are 
preoccupied  with  the  struggle  incident  to  hard  material  con- 
ditions. You  are  already  a  wealthy  people.  You  have, 
already,  developed  educational  conditions  that  may  well  put 
to  shame  older  parts  of  the  country.  You  are  pioneers  only 
in  the  sense  that  you  are  not  yet  crystalhzed  into  set  molds ; 
that  you  are  able  to  adapt  yourself  to  new  conditions  and  to 
new  modes  of  thinking. 

The  vitality  and  richness,  the  progressive  character  of  your 
spirit  are  fostered  by  the  fact  that  to  you  come  people  from 
every  quarter  of  the  globe.  All  points  of  view  are  repre- 
sented among  you.  Comprehension  and  mutual  under- 
standing cannot  help  stimulating  a  very  eager  and  versatile 
temper.  There  is  no  place  on  the  globe  that  should  be  more 
favorable  to  the  development  of  a  vital  and  creative  rehgious 
life,  that  will  interpret  religion  as  the  spirit  of  all  true  living 
and  as  the  means  of  human  welfare  in  the  deepest  sense  of  the 
term. 

The  history  of  religion  for  the  most  part  has  been  the  his- 
tory of  the  preservation  of  the  heritage  of  the  past.  Rehg- 
ion  has   been   the   great   conservative  agency.      Its   depen- 


Possibilities  of  a  School  of  Religion  291 

dence  upon  authoritative  tradition  in  some  form  or  other  has 
enabled  it  to  transmit  from  one  generation  to  another  ele- 
ments in  the  heritage  which  might  have  been  lost  otherwise, 
since  their  full  value  and  significance  have  not  always  been 
appreciated.  Mankind  would  not  have  gotten  very  far 
without  an  agency  to  guard  its  traditions,  —  an  agency 
stronger  than  the  valuation  placed  on  its  traditions  by  in- 
dividuals; but  there  are  times  when  religion  has  caught  a 
glimpse  of  a  higher  function  than  guarding  the  heritage  of  the 
past. 

Christ  saw  that  that  function  could  be  merged  into  a  recogni- 
tion of  the  needs  of  the  day  and  of  the  future.  It  matters 
little  whether  he  saw  the  future  in  all  of  its  relationships  or 
not.  Regardless  of  that,  it  is  true  that  we  are  just  beginning 
to  reahze  the  greatness  of  Jesus.  His  leavening  and  creating 
influence  in  politics,  in  economics,  in  social  up-building  is 
just  beginning  to  dawn  on  the  consciousness  of  men.  What 
the  new  world,  and  especially  the  new  parts  of  the  new  world, 
must  do,  and  do  with  emphasis,  is  to  show  that  Jesus  is  ma- 
jestic and  dynamic  as  a  world  power.  A  new  emphasis,  I 
venture  to  say,  on  the  greatness  of  Jesus  is  the  demand  made 
on  this  Seminary,  located  as  it  is  in  this  garden  of  the  Lord, 
at  the  end  of  the  new  world  and  looking  forward  to  the  begin- 
ning of  a  new  world  in  the  oldest  of  lands.  This  location  is 
prophetic  of  unmeasured  greatness  for  years  and  generations 
to  come. 

I  used  to  think  Cahfornia  was  at  the  end  of  things,  hemmed 
in  by  mountains  on  one  side  and  by  the  great  ocean  on  the 
other.  I  thought  of  it  as  magnificent,  but  alone.  I  am  happy 
to  say  that  this  was  a  superficial  opinion  and  not  a  judgment. 
My  judgment  now  is  that  it  is  not  the  end  of  things,  not  even 
the  beginning  of  things,  —  it  is  the  centre  of  a  world  now  in 
the  making.  Any  one  looking  at  the  map  of  the  world  on 
Mercator's  projection  must  at  once  be  struck  with  the 
strategic  position  of  this  city.     It  is  the  centre  to  which  all 


292        Religious  Progress  on  the  Pacific  Slope 

lines  converge.  This  is  not  fancy.  It  is  fact.  At  its  door 
are  the  states  of  the  west  coast  of  South  America.  Near  at 
hand  are  the  riches  of  the  untouched  empire,  that  unex- 
plored portion  of  the  United  States,  Alaska.  This  city  is  in 
haihng  distance  of  Cape  Town  and  South  Africa  and  in  direct 
line,  by  way  of  the  Panama  Canal,  with  the  great  countries 
and  great  cities  of  the  east  coast  of  South  America.  It  has 
a  strategic  position  in  relation  to  Australia  and  India.  The 
Panama  Canal,  together  with  its  own  location,  given  it  by 
nature,  has  made  it  in  a  new  sense  a  world  centre.  What  of 
material  advantage  can  this  land  ask  that  is  not  within  her 
reach?  The  greatness  of  her  opportunity  will  be  limited 
only  by  the  capacity  of  the  men  of  this  Coast.  You  have  an 
eminence  now,  you  are  destined  to  be  preeminent,  not  neces- 
sarily tomorrow  but  in  a  hundred  years  or  five  hundred  years; 
for  the  greatness  before  you  is  due  partly  to  the  inexhaustible 
possibilities  of  a  new  and  untried  world.  Hence  the  greatness 
of  perpetuity  is  yours,  if  your  understanding  is  equal  to  the 
task  of  applying  means  to  ends.  Let  your  imagination  have 
play. 

The  march  of  civilization  began  somewhere  in  the  East. 
It  moved  westward.  Not  very  long  ago  Germany,  France, 
Britain  were  new.  Gradually  they  came  within  the  reach  of 
Roman  civilization.  Finally  a  new  world  was  discovered. 
Men  crossed  the  new  world  and  came  finally  to  the  Pacific. 
California  furnishes  a  magnificent  setting  in  the  completed 
circle  of  human  advancement.  It  is  a  centre,  especially  a 
potential  centre.  It  is  a  radiant  promise  of  a  dominating  and 
renewing  influence  in  the  growing  world.  It  should  be  a 
centre  from  which  to  rediscover  the  old  world  of  China,  now 
becoming  new.  California  faces  the  greatest  opportunity 
and  at  the  same  time  the  greatest  responsibility  that  has  been 
given,  I  truly  believe,  to  any  group  of  people  since  the  march 
westward  began.  The  Pacific  and  its  islands,  China  and  its 
people  and  the  people  of  the  far  east  are  the  gifts  of  God  to 


Possibilities  of  a  School  of  Relig^pn  293 

California.  How  will  you  view  them?  How  will  you  treat 
your  opportunity? 

Incidentally,  your  School  of  Rehgion  is  "at  home "  in  the 
State  University  of  Cahfornia.  The  immensely  rich  gifts  of 
the  state,  past,  present,  future,  are  at  your  hand.  They 
promise  to  be  almost  boundless.  Let  me  warn  you!  This 
is  no  reason  why  you  should  be  at  ease  regarding  the  School. 
Its  reach  and  its  grasp  must  be  in  some  sense  fit  to  cooperate 
in  dignity  and  power  with  the  University.  To  do  this,  there 
must  be  men  and  money  —  and  constant  growth. 

The  greatness  of  the  commercial  opportunity  invites  and 
demands  a  tremendous  spiritual  energy  to  save  it  from  being 
merely  materialistic.  It  gives  a  splendid  opportunity  to 
demonstrate  that  the  function  of  religion  is  not  to  build  up 
a  spiritual  world  but  to  spiritualize  the  material  world.  On 
a  large  scale  this  has  never  been  demonstrated.  Every 
activity  of  business,  every  transaction  of  diplomacy,  every 
work  of  subduing  nature, ought  in  time  to  feel  the  touch  of 
the  man  Christ, —  that  is,  the  touch  of  vital,  purposeful, 
pubhc-spirited  Hving,  informing  it  at  every  point.  We 
should  not  tolerate  the  treatment  of  rehgion  in  any  sense  as  a 
refuge  from  life.  It  is  an  invitation  to  Hfe,  a  challenge  for 
heroic  living.     Rehgion  is  life. 

This  School,  I  am  sure,  is  in  a  position  to  be  leader  in  inter- 
preting the  greatness  of  the  present  and  future  opportunities 
of  this  fair  land. 


Chapter  XVI 
SERVICE  TO  THE  SOCIAL  ORDER 
The  Rev.  D.  Charles  Gardner 

Chaplain  of  Stanford   University 

I  am  mischievous  enough  to  wonder  why  a  layman  was  not 
asked  to  speak  to  this  fine,  large  subject.  Church  meetings 
are  usually  so  solemn,  and  laymen  have  such  humorous 
notions  about  clerical  life.  I  never  forget  that  it  was  a 
deacon  who  thus  characterized  his  minister:  "  Invisible  six 
days  in  the  week  and  incomprehensible  on  the  seventh." 
One  layman  I  can  never  forgive.  His  church  was  installing, 
a  nice  young  theologue  in  his  first  parish,  and  this  old  cur- 
mudgeon prayed:  **  O  Lord,  make  our  brother  humble;  we 
will  keep  him  poor."  Well!  I  am  sure  any  good  layman  would 
agree  with  every  good  parson  that,  in  its  program  for  the 
celebration  of  its  semi-centennial,  the  Pacific  School  of  Relig- 
ion exhibits  a  large  mind.  Your  Earl  lectures  have  long 
proved  your  spiritual  statesmanship.  Professor  Rauschen- 
busch's  book  on  that  foundation,  "  Christianizing  the  Social 
Order,"  has  carried  the  social  ideal  of  the  ministry  along  the 
currents  of  thought  throughout  our  English-speaking  world. 
The  thesis  of  that  book  is  plain. 

The  task  of  the  modern  church  is  to  weave  into  the  thought 
of  the  nation  the  Christian  conception  of  justice  and  brother- 
hood —  and  to  help  in  the  reconstruction  of  society  so  that  it 
shall  conform  to  the  moral  demands  of  the  Christian  spirit. 

I  for  one  welcome  the  breezy  modernism  which  lifts  our 
thoughts  above  the  salvation  of  the  individual  soul,  and 
teaches  us  to  look,  even  beyond  the  brotherhood  of  the 
churches,  out  over  the  wide  field  of  human  society  as  the  true 
sphere  of  religion. 

294 


Service  to  the  Social  Order  295 

The  Christian  Rehgion  began  with  a  social  ideal,  and  early 
Christianity  seemed  to  exhibit  on  a  small  scale  a  perfect 
community.  Alas!  subsequent  history  proves  that  the 
spirit  of  the  world  overcame  the  Church.  The  great  task  of 
social  regeneration  remains.  Society  is  yet  to  be  redeemed. 
Sin  and  selfishness  still  flourish.  The  social  evil  bhghts  so- 
ciety. Crime  vaunts  itself.  In  many  departments  of 
activity  commerce  represents  a  frankly  immoral  state  of 
competition. 

Europe  is  in  flames,  because  nations  have  not  yet  adopted 
the  rule  of  brotherhood.  Industry  is  at  strife.  Even  the 
family,  the  social  unit  of  state  and  nation,  is  menaced  by  the 
evil  of  divorce.  We  continue  to  spend  millions  on  paupers 
and  defectives,  —  the  sad  waste  of  a  social  order  boasting  of 
its  education  and  progress.  That  is  not  the  picture  which  a 
social  reformer  would  paint  of  the  world  order.  He  would 
dip  his  brush  in  red  and  paint  the  picture  in  higher  colors. 
While  I  could  myself  draw  a  scathing  indictment  of  modern 
society,  I  should  Hke  to  get  the  picture  into  focus.  And, 
therefore,  I  must  say: 

First,  I  beheve  the  churches  are  alive  to  the  social  problem. 
Under  the  anesthesia  of  her  "  other  worldUness,"  the  Church 
once  seemed  blind  to  social  injustice.  Even  a  church  as 
conservative  as  my  own  makes  this  declaration : 

"  We,  the  members  of  the  General  Convention  of  the 
Protestant  Episcopal  Church,  do  hereby  affirm  that  the 
Church  stands  for  the  ideal  of  social  justice  and  that  it  de- 
mands the  achievement  of  a  social  order  in  which  the  social 
cause  of  poverty  and  the  gross  human  waste  of  the  present 
order  shall  be  ehminated." 

Secondly,  I  plead  that  the  social  order,  while  needing  re- 
form, is  not  morally  bankrupt.  San  Francisco  does  business 
with  London  and  Tokio  because  the  banking  system  of  the 
world  rests  on  the  principle  of  integrity.  Upon  what  other 
foundation  rests  the  gigantic  structure  of  credit?     Is  it  not 


296        Religious  Progress  on  the  Pacific  Slope 

true  that  the  great  majority  of  commercial  contracts  are 
loyally  carried  out?  Who  dares  to  deny  that  the  larger 
number  of  men  and  women  are  true  to  their  marriage  vows? 
Capital  and  labor  are  not  continually  at  war.  The  equitable 
adjustment  of  the  rival  claims  of  capital  and  labor  rests  on  the 
conscience  of  both  classes.  Is  not  the  law  of  brotherhood 
growing?  Unless  we  feel  that  the  social  order  needs  com- 
plete reconstruction,  we  must  admit  that  modern  society  is 
not  all  rotten. 

And  thirdly,  the  moral  problems  of  the  social  order  differ 
with  locality.  California  has  no  slums.  The  poverty  of  the 
Pacific  Coast  is  seasonal  and  not  continuous.  Our  local 
problem  is  indifference  —  the  content  of  material  prosperity  — 
the  frank  failure  of  the  churches  to  hold  their  own  people  — 
irreverence  for  law  —  a  light-hearted,  often  vulgar,  ideal  of 
pleasure  —  the  menace  of  the  saloon  —  and  an  embittered 
industrial  condition. 

With  these  necessary  qualifications  in  mind  I  turn  to  the 
question:  What  may  a  School  of  Religion  do  to  minister  to 
the  true  needs,  the  moral  welfare  and  the  spiritual  develop- 
ment of  the  social  order? 

A  School  of  Religion  exists  primarily  to  educate  a  godly 
ministry  for  the  churches.  Your  graduates  are  largely  con- 
cerned with  the  work  of  the  pulpit.  The  pulpit  addresses  the 
pew.  But  the  pews,  even  when  full,  are  not  occupied  by  the 
masses.  Therefore  the  preacher  must  be  a  prophet.  To  be  a 
School  of  the  Prophets  —  that  is  the  larger  function  of  a 
School  of  Religion.  To  call  the  nation  to  righteousness  — 
that  is  the  business  of  the  prophet.  And  if  the  world  will  not 
come  to  church,  the  minister  must  go  to  the  world.  What- 
ever the  method  of  activity,  or  the  form  of  the  propaganda, 
the  principle  is  clear  —  to  emphasize  the  social  application  of 
the  rehgious  life.  And  this  seems  to  me  to  be  the  condition 
to  be  faced : 

The  social  order  is  obsessed  with  the  value  of  things.     Its 


Service  to  the  Social  Order  297 

philosophy  is  frankly  materialistic.  Its  "  goods "  are  the 
gifts  of  civilization  —  money,  comfort,  Hght,  ease,  trans- 
portation, pleasure.  But  you  know,  and  I  know,  that  if 
men  and  women  possessed  all  the  things  they  covet  they  would 
not  necessarily  be  happy.  True,  their  social  needs  are  partly 
met  by  the  fraternal  orders,  the  labor  organizations,  and  the 
social  equality  of  bright  streets  and  democratic  amusements. 

Once  the  church  endeavored  to  capture  for  Christ  this  great 
unchurched  mass  by  the  methods  of  emotional  evangelism. 
That  method  has  failed.  You  can  count  the  successful 
evangelists  on  the  fingers  of  one  hand.  And  the  greatest  of 
these  graduated  from  the  School  of  Baseball.  Even  when  the 
activity  of  the  minister  makes  him  respected  —  in  camp,  on 
board  ship,  or  in  city  streets  —  he  is  often  called  "  the  sky 
pilot  "  —  as  if  his  task  was  not  part  of  the  world's  work,  but 
rather  to  call  men  to  prepare  for  heaven. 

Here  then  is  a  second  question :  Can  your  School  of  Relig- 
ion, by  definite  study  of  social  psychology,  through  social 
surveys,  social  contact,  and  lectures  by  leaders  in  social  better- 
ment, learn  to  understand  the  undercurrents  of  social  life 
and  thought,  and  in  some  restatement  of  Christ's  social 
gospel,  win  men  and  women  to  a  large,  sweet,  sane  and  moral 
ideal  of  life? 

And  can  you  not,  by  similar  research  into  the  psychology 
of  childhood,  somehow  redeem  the  Sunday  school  from  its 
torpor  and  make  it  a  School  of  Social  Morahty?  Our  secular 
schools  do  not,  except  by  indirection,  educate  the  heart,  the 
conscience  and  the  will  of  the  adolescent.  I  wish  our  young 
theological  students  could  be  kept  from  preaching  in  their 
seminary  days.  Why  not  draft  them  into  the  leadership  of 
Bible  schools  for  young  men  and  women  who  have  outgrown 
the  Sunday  school? 

Because  great  bodies  of  men  and  women  with  a  natural 
passion  for  secular  well-being,  and  the  betterment  of  industrial 
conditions,  drift  past  the  Church  into  fraternal  orders  and 


298        Religious  Progress  on  the  Pacific  Slope 

labor  organizations,  can  you  not  set  men  to  study  the  problems 
of  capital  and  labor,  the  law  of  property  and  the  principles  of 
government;  so  that  the  Church  may  be  intelligent  in  its 
social  leadership?  Men  like  Kingsley,  and  Maurice,  and  West- 
cott  in  England,  and  men  like  Gladden,  Strong,  Ely  and 
Stelzle  in  this  country,  knowing  the  deeps  of  the  social  problem, 
have  been  inflamed  with  the  passion  of  social  redemption, 
based  on  the  principles  of  religion. 

And  why  not  educate  students  of  social  law  to  proclaim 
to  the  social  order  the  ethical  principles  which  lie  behind 
human  justice  and  social  happiness?  A  witty  lady,  menaced 
by  the  ubiquitous  automobile,  says,  "  the  city  streets  are 
places  only  for  the  quick  and  the  dead."  The  automobile  is  a 
social  problem.  In  its  presence  we  need  to  advertise  two 
commandments  of  the  decalogue:  Thou  shalt  not  Idll;  Thou 
shall  not  covet. 

But  more,  a  School  of  Theology,  in  itself  and  through  its 
faculty,  has  another  ministry  to  the  social  order. 

You  lead  a  sequestered  life;  therefore,  write  books.  The 
world  needs  a  restatement  of  Christian  Theology.  After 
all,  rehgion  must  be  articulated  to  be  intelligent.  Social  pana- 
ceas fail  because  they  do  not  recognize  that  the  basic  ground 
of  social  obligation  is  not  utility,  or  humanity,  but  God. 

Ultimately  social  morality  rests  upon  our  theory  of  Divin- 
ity. The  loss  of  the  consciousness  of  God  is  the  tragedy  of 
human  life.  It  may  even  be  the  cause  of  war.  To  Christian- 
ize, even  morahze,  the  social  order,  we  must  help  men  to 
recover  their  faith  in  God  —  God  the  Servant  —  God  who 
took  our  humanity  upon  Him  in  the  Person  of  Christ  and 
shared  our  sorrows  and  our  problems. 

I  beheve  firmly  that  a  sound  theology  which  contains  the 
Christian  answer  to  the  social  problem  will  exhibit  to  the 
world  a  true  ideal  of  citizenship  and  of  service  —  as  well  as 
call  the  individual  to  a  godly,  righteous  and  sober  life. 

These  tasks  are  not  academic.     All  about  us  is  growing  up 


Service  to  the  Social  Order  299 

a  new  empire.  It  has  its  own  genius,  its  own  problems.  We 
face  an  exaggerated  individualism  which  is  unsocial,  a 
Latin-hke  love  of  pleasure,  masses  of  men  and  women 
superficially  educated,  and  frankly  in  love  with  rag-time  music, 
movie  morals  and  the  Sunday  Supplement  type  of  Hterature, 
an  educated  group  out  of  sympathy  with  organized  Christian- 
ity, a  cHmate  which  affects  character  and  conduct,  a  pros- 
perity turning  to  grossness.  And  this  social  order  is  to  be 
redeemed,  not  by  statute,  not  by  transplanting  New  England 
Puritanism,  not  by  an  easy-going,  utiUtarian  ethic,  but  by 
some  appeal  to  native  moral  instincts,  some  process  of  spiri- 
tual reeducation  by  which  our  pagans  can  be  converted  to  the 
service  of  God  and  brother  man,  without  loss  of  that  color, 
cheer  and  charm  which  make  our  western  life  so  vital  and  so 
vivid.  It  is  the  task  of  such  a  school  to  be  the  nursing  mother  of 
a  new  western  civilization. 

And  so  I  conclude.     If  this  school  will  teach  its  students  to 
know  at  first-hand  the  principles  of  social  science  and  rehgion 

—  if  it  will  interpret  to  the  social  order  a  philosophy  of  life, 
in  terms  of  its  own  experience,  yet  true  to  the  Christian  theory 

—  if  you  will  teach  your  men  to  love  poetry  and  good  literature, 
which  keep  alive  the  romance  of  love,  the  ideahzation  of 
marriage,  and  the  chivalry  of  life  —  if  you  will  send  into  the 
world  men  who  have  the  graces  of  cultivated  personahty, 
men  who  love  their  fellows  and  have  a  passion  to  serve  — 
if  you  will  not  put  all  your  trust  in  brains,  and  the  new  god 
Efl&ciency,  but  cultivate  also  the  kindly  heart  and  the  resolute 
will  —  you  may  be  sure  that  the  Pacific  School  of  Rehgion 
will  go  forward  to  its  larger  ideal,  a  ministry  not  only  to  the 
churches,  but  to  the  social  order. 


Chapter  XVII 

SERVICE  TO  THE  WORLD-WIDE  KINGDOM 

John  Lawrence  Seaton,  S.  T.  B.,  Ph.D., 
President  of  the  College  of  the  Pacific 

We  are  gathered  under  the  auspices  of  a  School  of  ReHgion 
that  serves  all  faiths  and  acknowledges  no  limits  narrower 
than  those  set  by  the  Kingdom  of  God.  It  is  Christian  but 
not  denominational.  Some  of  us  connected  with  Christian 
colleges  proudly  advertize  that  we  are  denominational,  but 
not  sectarian.  When  we  talk  to  our  own  people  we  emphasize 
the  fact  that  we  are  denominational.  When  we  talk  to  other 
people  we  emphasize  the  fact  that  we  are  not  sectarian.  Thus 
we  have  a  word  fitly  spoken  and  in  season  for  all  whom  we  wish 
to  interest. 

Perhaps  this  day  and  this  institution  are  prophetic  of  the 
time  when  our  denominationalism  will  be  merged  into  a  larger 
and  fuller  life  where  Christ  is  all  in  all.  Every  candidate  for 
the  Methodist  ministry  is  asked  this  question,  "  Do  you  expect 
to  be  made  perfect  in  love  in  this  life?  "  He  is  required  to 
answer,  "  I  do."  The  Methodist  ideal  is  perfection  in  love. 
Since  that  is  the  ultimate  ideal,  can  we  not  most  quickly  and 
surely  settle  the  vexing  questions  of  denominationalism  by  all 
becoming  Methodists,  —  in  the  sense  of  striving  to  be  made 
perfect  in  love  in  this  life.  Whatever  the  manner  and  degree 
of  union,  it  is  necessary  that  we  have  a  Christian  church  with 
one  message,  and  only  one  message,  to  the  non-Christian  world. 

There  is  one  shrine  especially  dear  to  some  who  are  repre- 
sented in  this  gathering,  and  an  inspiration  to  all  who  love  the 
Kingdom  of  God.  It  is  the  old  City  Road  Chapel  in  London. 
John  Wesley  laid  the  corner-stone  of  the  structure,  and  he 
often  preached  from  the  high  pulpit,  which  is  in  use  to  this 

300 


The  World-Wide   Kingdom  301 

day.  Behind  the  chapel,  he  and  several  of  his  preachers  are 
buried.  There  "  Glory  guards  with  solemn  round  the  bivouac 
of  the  dead."  In  front  of  the  chapel  is  a  stately  bronze  statue 
of  Wesley,  erected  by  the  grateful  gifts  of  his  spiritual  chil- 
dren. Carved  on  the  pedestal,  as  if  just  fallen  from  his  hps, 
are  the  well-known  words  (long  the  quickening  maxim  of  the 
Church  he  founded),  "  My  parish  is  the  world." 

That  is  now  the  faith  of  every  Christian,  "  My  parish  is  the 
world."  There  is  a  holy  compulsion  in  our  religion  which 
thrusts  us  out  to  the  uttermost  parts  of  the  earth.  There  is  a 
divine  love  in  it  which  constrains  us,  "  whate'er  our  name  or 
sign,"  to  hail  all  men  as  brothers  and  heirs  with  us  of  the 
unsearchable  riches  of  Christ. 

The  words,  "  Go  ye  unto  all  nations,"  are  commonly  cited 
as  the  marching  orders  of  the  Church,  the  final  authority  and 
reason  for  all  the  vast  and  heroic  missionary  movements  of  the 
ages.  Not  infrequently  the  behef  that  eternal  damnation 
awaited  the  heathen  to  whom  the  Gospel  was  not  preached, 
and  endless  fehcity  in  heaven  was  reserved  for  those  who 
heard  and  accepted,  furnished  the  strong  incentives  in  mis- 
sions. Ex-President  Eliot  declares  in  language  too  pictur- 
esque to  be  wholly  true,  that  these  old  convictions  (and  others) 
have  passed,  that  if  heaven  were  burned  and  hell  were 
quenched,  we  should  hardly  feel  any  appreciable  loss  of  motive 
power.  In  some  measure,  this  may  be  true,  though  I  must 
insist  that  the  denomination  to  which  I  belong  is  still  con- 
siderably warmed  by  what  Professor  James  called  the  "  cheer- 
ful glow  of  hell  fire."  To  put  the  case  less  crudely,  heaven 
and  hell  are  reahties  to  us.  But  other  Christians  who  do  not 
hold  these  doctrines  concerning  eternity  nevertheless  flame 
with  zeal  for  the  evangelization  of  the  world.  By  the  modern 
church  may  not  this  be  said :  We  cheerfully  accept  the  task  of 
evangehzing  the  world,  not  because  a  command  has  been  laid 
upon  us,  nor  even  because  eternal  woe  or  eternal  blessing  for 
innumerable   throngs   of   human   beings   depends   upon   our 


302        Religious  Progress  on  the  Pacific  Slope 

action;  we  accept  it  because  we  have  received  through  Christ 
a  quickening  perception  of  the  meaning  and  proper  use  of  our 
own  Kves,  and  a  sure  knowledge,  through  experience,  of  the 
incomparable  efficiency  of  our  rehgion  in  the  attainment  of  all 
the  high  ends  of  human  existence;  we  know  that  "  there  is  no 
other  name  under  heaven  given  among  men  whereby  we  must 
be  saved."  This  great  salvation  is  now  understood  in  positive 
rather  than  negative  terms.  Perhaps  it  is  not  less  a  way  of 
escape,  but  it  is  more  a  door  of  opportunity.  Christianity 
means  an  abundant  life.  There  is  no  doubt  that  it  encourages 
and  almost  creates  a  higher  material  civilization.  Convert 
the  heathen,  and  they  rise  in  the  scale  of  Hfe.  They  produce 
more  and  consume  more.  They  live  better  and  dress  more 
expensively,  as  well  as  more  completely.  They  build  better 
homes  and  develop  the  technical  and  fine  arts.  Health  and 
wealth,  enlightenment  and  liberty  attend  the  sway  of  Chris- 
tianity. It  is  the  one  religion  of  progress,  —  the  one  rehgion 
that  always  feels 

"  A  vexing  forward-reaching  sense 
Of  some  more  noble  permanence." 

It  is  equally  certain  that  Christianity  affords  a  more  com- 
plete moralization  of  hfe  than  does  any  other  rehgion.  We  do 
not  forget  that  vice  is  painfully  present,  that  besetting  and 
upsetting  sins  are  ever  with  us,  that  our  human  life  at  best  is  a 
life,  as  Professor  Bowne  said,  "  of  ignorance  and  weakness, 
a  life  without  insight  into  itself,  and  without  foresight  of  the 
end,  a  life  solicited  by  temptations  from  without  and  within, 
from  above,  beneath  and  around."  But  the  unique  value  of 
Christianity  lies  in  the  vitality  and  strength  it  gives  to  the 
moral  desires  and  aspirations  it  creates.  "  To  as  many  as 
receive"  our  Lord,  "he  gives  the  power  to  become  the  sons  of 
God."  They  are  not  always,  perhaps  ever,  full-grown  sons. 
But  from  age  to  age  the  best  that  the  race  thinks  or  hopes  of 
moral  good  finds  itself  most  fully  attained  among  the  disciples 
of  Jesus  Christ. 


The  World-Wide   Kingdom  303 

The  supreme  reason  for  missions,  is  that  Christianity,  more 
than  any  other  rehgion,  unites  man  and  God  in  relations  of 
understanding,  faith  and  love.  The  faith  is  rational  and  the 
love  is  personal.  Indeed  the  fact  most  vital  in  Christian- 
ity is  the  relation  of  the  real  human  soul  to  the  real  God. 
He  is  our  Father.  He  may  chasten  us,  but  always  for  our 
own  good.  He  longs  to  win  us  to  Himself,  but  He  never 
cancels  our  freedom  or  forces  us  to  accept  Him.  When  in 
love  and  trust  we  join  ourselves  to  Him,  our  poor  weak  na- 
tures quicken  with  strength,  and  the  graces  of  the  better  life 
begin  to  appear.  If  we  continue  in  that  charmed  companion- 
ship we  grow  to  be  hke  Him.  Compared  with  the  dark  fatalism, 
the  hopeless  annihilation  of  personality,  and  the  tragic  enmity 
of  the  gods  found  in  other  rehgions,  how  sweet  and  sane,  how 
strong  and  bracing  is  Christianity!  It  is  the  one  rehgion  that 
makes  man  at  home  with  God  and  thus  at  home  with  himself 
and  his  world. 

These  in  brief  outline  are  the  central  reasons  now  generally 
recognized  as  urgent  and  undeniable  for  the  evangehzing  of  the 
world.  Of  course  there  are  many  other  important  reasons 
which  there  is  not  time  to  mention.  The  facts  which  inspire 
us  to  be,  or  to  send,  missionaries  are  also  the  facts  which,  if 
adequately  presented,  will  persuade  the  non-Christian  world  to 
accept  Christ. 

It  is  difficult  to  secure  volunteers  for  missionary  service. 
I  believe  we  can  never  secure  them  in  sufficient  numbers  with- 
out Christian  colleges  in  which  the  rehgious  ideals  and  im- 
pulses of  the  youth  will  be  nurtured.  But  the  real  task  is  to 
fit  the  volunteers  to  present  the  facts  with  a  skill  that  cannot  be 
thwarted,  a  logic  that  cannot  be  evaded,  and  an  insistence 
that  cannot  be  denied.  Of  course  there  can  be  no  substitute 
for  the  wisdom  that  cometh  from  above,  or  the  compassionate 
love  which  includes  as  kin  every  human  creature.  But,  given 
that  wisdom  and  love,  there  remains  the  need  of  training. 
The  cure  of  souls,  not  less  than  the  cure  of  bodies,  demands 


304        Religious  Progress  on  the  Pacific  Slope 

specialized  education.  One  of  the  most  significant  illustrations 
within  my  knowledge  is  a  set  of  figures  compiled  a  few  years 
ago  by  Dr.  Marcus  D.  Buell,  of  the  Boston  University  School 
of  Theology.  Methodism  had  been  making  very  little  prog- 
ress. Conversions  at  her  altar  were  few.  The  number 
added  annually  to  her  church  by  the  educational  processes  of 
the  Sabbath  school  was  discouragingly  small.  Where  was  the 
fault?  In  the  preachers  trained  in  the  theological  school  and 
supposed  to  be  tainted  with  and  enfeebled  by  the  higher 
criticism?  in  the  ranks  of  the  untrained  clergy?  Dr.  Buell 
showed  by  figures  taken  from  the  minutes  of  annual  conferences 
that  if  all  the  ministers  of  Methodism  had  done  as  well  as  the 
graduates  of  the  Boston  University  School  of  Theology,  ten 
times  as  many  members  would  have  been  added  to  the  church 
during  the  quadrennium.  I  doubt  not  that  a  similar  ratio 
would  apply  to  other  theological  schools. 

These  are  figures  taken  from  the  home  field,  where  every 
pastor  is  aided  by  the  organization  and  momentum  of  Chris- 
tianity. But  in  the  non-Christian  world  everything  depends 
upon  the  missionary  as  teacher  or  preacher.  The  great 
missionaries,  with  few  exceptions,  have  been  educated  men. 
There  is  reason  to  believe  that  their  successes  would  have  been 
earlier  and  larger  if  their  education  had  been  supplemented  by 
the  speciahzed  training  now  afforded  in  schools  of  rehgion. 

The  functions  of  the  schools  of  religion  are  varied  and  vital. 
The  Church  of  Jesus  Christ  has  undertaken  to  transform  fife 
throughout  the  world.  It  is  obvious  that  more  than  preaching 
is  necessary;  though  preaching  of  the  right  kind  will  always 
be  an  effective  method  by  which  the  life  of  God  enters  the 
life  of  man.  The  entire  work  of  the  church  must  be  organized 
and  administered  according  to  sound  pedagogical  principles. 
How  far  even  the  Sabbath  school  has  come  short  of  this  ideal 
it  is  needless  to  say.  Why  should  not  a  school  of  religion 
provide  normal  classes  for  the  training  of  the  Sunday-school 
teachers  in  the  community  in  which  it  is  located?     Why  should 


The  World-Wide   Kingdom  305 

it  not  provide  extension  courses  by  which  skilled  leaders  and 
teachers  would  be  given  to  wider  areas?  Something  of  the 
kind  is  now  being  done  by  several  institutions.  Their  work 
is  only  a  beginning  of  what  ought  to  be  done.  The  schools  of 
religion  should  also  furnish  directors  of  rehgious  instruction 
for  all  the  cities  of  this  country.  I  beheve  that  the  future 
success  of  the  Church  in  the  cities  will  largely  depend  upon  the 
service  given  by  men  specially  trained  for  leadership  in  Sunday 
schools  and  Young  People's  Societies. 

The  schools  of  religion  must  also  supply  the  workers  in 
that  almost  new  and  very  inviting  field  represented  by  the 
departments  of  Bible  and  Religion  in  our  denominational 
schools,  and  the  denominational  estabhshments  of  various 
kinds  in  our  state  universities.  These  are  strategic  places 
which  we  must  capture  and  hold;  but  in  these  places  only  men 
of  large  ability  and  speciahzed  training  can  be  expected  to 
win. 

Here  in  the  homeland,  many  important  and  apparently 
indispensable  functions  belong  to  the  schools  of  rehgion. 
But  their  greatest  service  is  to  the  non-Christian  nations 
where  everything  is  to  be  fashioned  anew  according  to  the 
pattern  given  on  the  Mount  in  that  matchless  sermon  by  the 
Son  of  Man.  The  gospel  must  be  preached  in  power  and 
love,  but  also  in  power  and  wisdom  gained  by  special  training 
and  experience. 

Churches  and  Sabbath  schools  must  be  organized  and  ad- 
ministered, not  according  to  some  plan  approved  elsewhere,  but 
according  to  the  nature  and  needs  of  the  people  whom  they 
serve.  Hoary  systems  of  education,  venerated  because  they 
are  old,  but  wholly  inadequate  to  a  mission  born  in  a  new  day 
and  rising  to  its  task  in  the  modern  world,  must  be  replaced  by 
a  new  and  scientific  education  permeated  through  and  through 
by  the  spirit  and  the  ideals  of  the  Christian  religion.  In 
these  fields  we  cannot  afford  to  be  "  trying  with  uncertain 
keys  door  by  door  of  mystery."     We  must  have  leadership 


206        Religious  Progress  on  the  Pacific  Slope 

that  knows.  Without  an  honored  place  for  Christ  in  the 
educational  system,  I  see  very  Httle  hope  of  redeeming  the 
homes,  the  social  order,  or  the  national  life  of  any  people. 
The  Christian  leader  in  the  non-Christian  world  should  be  a 
consummate  preacher,  a  gifted  teacher  and  a  wise  statesman, 
a  prophet,  sage  and  politician,  and  a  blameless  and  masterful 
man  among  men  groping  for  new  life  and  new  light. 

Who  shall  be  equal  to  these  things?  Frankly,  I  confess  that 
the  best  whom  we  can  choose  and  send  will  in  some  respects 
come  short  of  the  requirements.  But  our  hope  lies  in  the 
men  specially  selected  and  trained.  If  I  could  have  my  way, 
I  would  choose  the  strongest  young  men  from  Christian  homes. 
I  would  send  them  to  Christian  colleges  for  a  general  educa- 
tion and  the  fixing  of  character,  and  then  to  the  great  uni- 
versities for  advanced  studies  and  a  certain  broadening  of 
experience.  Finally  I  would  send  them  to  the  schools  of 
rehgion  for  special  training  in  doctrines  and  methods  by  which 
the  world  may  be  transformed  into  the  Kingdom  of  God. 
The  latest  and  perhaps  the  greatest  work  in  their  education 
would  be  done  by  the  School  of  Rehgion. 

This  closing  day  of  the  semi-centennial  of  Pacific  Theo- 
logical Seminary  is  a  day  of  solemn  rejoicing  and  a  day  of 
brightening  hope.  We  thrill  with  gratitude  and  gladness 
when  we  see  what  God  has  wrought  in  the  fifty  years  of  serv- 
ice this  institution  has  given.  Our  hearts  burn  within  us  and 
the  benedictions  arise  unbidden  to  our  hps  when  we  think  of 
the  larger  ministry  which  this  School  of  Rehgion  and  other 
Schools  of  Rehgion  will  have  in  the  church,  in  the  social  order, 
and  in  the  ever-widening  Kingdom  of  our  Christ. 

"  Watchman  tell  us  of  the  night, 
What  its  signs  of  promise  are, 
Traveler,  o'er  yon  mountain's  height 
See  that  glory  beaming  star! 
Watchman,  does  its  beauteous  ray 
Aught  of  hope  or  joy  foretell? 
Traveler,  yes,  it  brings  the  day, 
Promised  day  of  Israel." 


William  Frederic  Bade 
B.D.,  Ph.D. 


John  Wrifiht  Ruckhani 
D.D. 


Harvey  Hugo  Guy 
B.D.,  Ph.D. 


Raymond  C  Brooks 
D.D. 


Chester  Charlton  McCcwn 
B.D.,  Ph.D. 


(teorge  Tolover  Tolson 
A.M.,  B.D. 


Charles  Edward  Hugh 
A.M.,  M.L. 


Albert  Went  worth  Palmer 
B.D. 

THE  FACULTY 


Miles  Bull  Fisher 
D.D. 


Chapter  XVIII 

THE  MOVEMENT  TOWARD  CHURCH  UNION 

The  Rev.  William  Melvin  Bell,    D.D. 

Bishop  of  the  Church  of  the   United  Brethren  in  Christ 

The  conscience  of  the  Christian  pubhc  in  America  has  well- 
nigh  reached  an  agreement  as  to  the  desirabihty  of  a  union 
between  those  branches  of  the  Protestant  Church  that  are 
similar  in  doctrine  and  pohty.  Occasionally  you  will  hear  a 
dissent  from  the  proposal,  but  it  is  the  exception.  Even 
those  who  for  one  reason  and  another  hold  out  against  a 
ripening  judgment  in  the  affirmative  are  not  as  insistent  of 
their  views  as  they  were  formerly.  They  seem  to  be  slowly 
recognizing  the  power  of  current  popular  thought  and  feel 
less  secure  of  the  grounds  of  their  defense  of  the  present  un- 
satisfactory status.  For  the  Christian  conscience  to  reach 
the  conclusion  that  similar  bodies  of  Christians  should  unite  in 
organic  union  is  a  long  step  towards  the  consummation.  A 
genuine  conviction  that  the  points  of  similarity  are  more 
numerous  than  had  formerly  been  supposed,  and  that  the 
respects  in  which  the  churches  are  similar  are  of  vital  im- 
portance, while  the  points  of  dissimilarity  are  of  small  im- 
portance, seems  to  be  well-nigh  universal.  So  we  hear  it  said 
in  all  circles  that  the  churches  ought  to  get  together.  The 
oughtness  of  any  mooted  question  counts  for  more  now  than 
formerly.  What  was  right  for  our  fathers  may  not  be  right 
for  us;  and  this  not  because  principles  vary  but  because  we 
have  more  light  for  the  interpretation  of  principles.  A  vast 
amount  of  sectarian  mist  has  obscured  the  heavens,  so  that 
even  God's  own  children  have  not  always  seen  clearly  as  to 
what  is  fundamental  in  Christianity  and  what  is  non-essential. 
Let  us  hope  that  the  day  of  the  clearer  vision  is  at  hand.     Let 

307 


308        Religious  Progress  on  the  Pacific  Slope 

us  invite  the  Holy  Spirit  to  cleanse  us  of  prejudice  and  quicken 
us  in  the  Christian  essentials. 

Associated  immediately  with  the  desirability  of  Church 
Union  is  the  question  of  its  utility.  Saint  Paul  said  that  some 
things  that  were  lawful  were  not  expedient.  Before  a  merger 
of  kindred  church  organizations  shall  be  a  reality  there  must 
be  a  deep  and  commanding  conviction  that  by  such  union  the 
Kingdom  of  God  will  be  set  forward  in  America  and  through- 
out the  world.  There  are  reasons  for  believing  that  a  ma- 
terial reduction  in  the  number  of  the  church  organizations  in 
this  country  would  be  of  decided  advantage  in  the  evangeliza- 
tion of  the  world  and  the  increased  efficiency  of  Christianity 
at  home.  The  people  who  plead  for  and  justify  the  present 
segregation  of  Christians  into  denominations  tell  us  there 
would  be  a  great  danger  to  individual  freedom  and  initiative 
in  such  a  concentration  of  the  administrative  power  as  a 
considerable  union  of  the  several  churches  would  call  into 
existence.  This  fear  grows  from  a  failure  to  appreciate  the 
fact  that  the  movement  toward  democracy  which  is  a  product  of 
Christianity  has  progressed  to  the  point  where  no  administra- 
tive authority  could  possibly  be  guilty  of  the  persecutions  and 
oppressions  of  the  past  ages.  Democracy,  with  its  recognition 
of  the  rights  and  essential  dignity  of  each  and  every  human 
being,  compels  every  movement  towards  a  centralization  of 
power  to  modify  and  govern  itself  by  a  supreme  passion  for 
and  interest  in  the  collective  welfare.  The  spread  of  general 
intelhgence  and  the  growth  of  the  spirit  of  a  true  cathohcity 
will  prevent,  automatically,  the  past  abuses  of  ecclesiastical 
power.  The  leavening  power  of  Christianity  has  carried 
civilization  forward  to  the  point  where  all  aggregations  of 
power  of  every  sort  are  feeling  the  restraints  of  the  new  social 
conscience.  This  means  that  the  days  of  the  autocrat  are 
numbered  on  the  earth.  This  does  not  mean  that  there  will 
be  no  centralization  of  administrative  authority  for  greater 
efficiency.     It  does  mean  that  henceforth  all  power  shall  be 


Toward  Church  U7iwn  309 

Christianized  and  therefore  humanized  and  just.  There  is 
absolutely  no  contention  between  democracy  with  its  exalta- 
tion of  individual  rights  and  liberty  and  such  centrahzations 
of  administrative  authority  as  the  adequate  handling  of  the 
great  problems  of  Christianity  shall  require.  Democracy 
requires  that  all  exercise  of  authority  by  those  who  represent 
the  people  shall  be  immediately  responsible  to  the  people  and 
always  subject  to  their  recall  and  approval.  Let  us,  therefore, 
dismiss  the  unwarranted  fear  that  the  movement  for  church 
union  will  build  up  a  monster  Protestant  Church  Hierarchy, 
for  it  never  can  be  done.  Even  Rome  has  been  compelled  to 
abandon  its  absolutism  in  many  respects,  and  it  will  continue 
to  do  so  more  completely. 

The  humihating  confusion  and  inefficiency  which  now 
characterizes  the  work  of  the  isolated  Protestant  churches  is 
enough  to  make  angels  weep  and  demons  laugh.  We  have 
as  our  common  objective  the  Christianization  of  America  and 
of  the  world.  But  here  we  are  crossing  wires  in  administration 
of  men  and  means  until  practically  no  respect  is  paid  to  the 
plans  of  one  church  by  another  that  presumes  to  operate  in 
the  same  community.  What  possible  justification  can  there 
be  for  our  present  lack  of  co-operation,  conference,  and 
agreement  in  relation  to  the  work  of  one  another  and  the 
occupation  of  unoccupied  territory?  These  crying  evils 
grow  out  of  the  fact  that  we  have  so  many  denominations 
anxious  to  build  themselves  up  that  we  not  only  have  competi- 
tion but  at  times  vicious,  destructive,  unscrupulous,  wicked 
competition.  With  fewer  and  stronger  denominations  we 
could  execute  more  ample  programs  and  simplify  adminis- 
trative problems.  We  could  conserve  the  Christian  forces 
and  meet  the  forces  of  evil  with  a  power  that  presages  victory. 

As  it  is,  Christianity  is  far  from  being  as  influential  as  the 
number  of  her  pledged  disciples  would  lead  one  to  expect. 
She  wages  a  desultory  warfare  when  she  ought  to  be  moving 
with  a  military  precision  to  the  conquest  of  an  un-Christianized 


310         Religious  Progress  on  the  Pacific  Slope 

social  order  and  the  evangelization  of  the  unevangelized  world. 
How  long!     O  Lord,  how  long! 

Beyond  all  question  the  present  divisions  of  our  Protes- 
tanism  are  a  factor  in  deterring  strong  and  virile  young  men 
from  entering  the  Christian  ministry.  They  have  the  feeling 
that  isolation  and  the  competitions  of  modern  church  life  are 
such  as  to  make  their  ministry  narrow  and  lacking  in  influence. 
They  foresee  their  classification  with  men  of  small  affairs  and 
devotees  at  belittling  altars.  This  is  one  reason  why  the 
secretaryships  of  our  great  interdenominational  organizations 
are  commanding  men  and  women  of  the  highest  ability  and 
devotion.  Our  sectarian  strife  belittles  the  Christian  leader- 
ship everywhere  and  makes  possible  the  triumph  of  the  united 
forces  of  evil  in  many  a  battle  which  might  end  in  a  glorious 
victory  instead  of  an  ignominious  defeat.  Numbers  alone 
are  not  decisive,  but  numbers  of  good  people  badly  related  to  a 
common  and  gigantic  task  must  often  mean  failure  when  the 
failure  is  a  calamity  to  society.  We  Christians  must  remember 
in  these  illumined  days  that  we  have  an  allegiance  larger 
and  deeper  than  our  own  petty  sectarianism  can  ever 
sanction.  If  we  place  a  supreme  love  and  devotion  on  these 
petty  distinctions,  such  as  church  names  and  the  like,  we 
grieve  the  Holy  Spirit  and  make  an  unquestioned  contribution 
to  the  delay  of  gospel  consummations.  It  is  clearly  a  matter 
of  utihty  that  the  passion  lavished  upon  the  unimportant 
denominational  distinctions  should  be  forgotten  in  a  mighty 
enthusiasm  for  the  Christian  essentials. 

We  come  now  to  the  question:  Is  Church  Union  practicable 
even  among  denominations  of  similar  doctrine  and  polity? 
The  answer  is  yes,  if  and  if  and  if;  and  no,  if  and  if  and  if. 
In  other  words  the  effort,  because  of  generations  of  training 
in  an  opposite  direction,  will  severely  test  the  discipleship  of 
this  age.  Union  will  be  found  impossible  if  we  are  willing  to 
continue  to  live  in  provincialisms  rather  than  in  the  larger 
domain  of  unity.     No,  it  is  not  practicable  if  we  are  to  exalt 


Toward  Church  Union  311 

the  passing  and  the  evanescent,  if  we  are  to  make  much  of 
church  names  and  traditions,  if  we  are  to  be  fond  of  official 
supremacy  in  small  circles,  where  our  programs  even  when 
accepted,  are  so  sorrowfully  inadequate  to  the  world's  need, 
and  in  constant  violation  of  any  true  statesmanship  for  the 
Kingdom  of  God.  No,  it  cannot  be,  if  we  are  to  consult  our 
fears  and  be  tenacious  of  factional  slogans.  No,  it  cannot  be 
realized,  if  we  are  forever  to  hark  back  to  our  human  founders 
and  clothe  them  with  a  sectarian  zeal  which  they  would  repu- 
diate if  they  could  speak  to  us  now  out  of  the  heavenly  realities 
and  the  full  liberations  of  redemptive  love.  It  cannot  be,  if 
we  remain  unacquainted  with  one  another  and  persist  in  our 
bigotry  and  isolation,  if  we  exalt  our  sectarian  zeal  to  the 
plane  of  a  cardinal  virtue  and  cry,  "  great  is  our  sect  and 
greatly  to  be  praised  in  all  the  earth." 

Church  Union  is  practicable  if  we  keep  our  eyes  on  Jesus 
Christ,  if  we  seek  the  baptism  of  the  Holy  Spirit  and  fire,  if  we 
are  willing  in  the  day  of  His  uniting  power,  if  we  reckon  on  the 
Divine  wisdom  to  show  the  way  out  of  our  perplexities,  if  we 
believe  that  it  is  more  important  that  the  Christian  resources 
of  this  age  should  be  aligned  in  the  light  of  current  need 
rather  than  consumed  in  the  task  of  maintaining  parallel 
organizations,  even  though  all  the  denominations  already 
have  facilities  which  could  serve  much  larger  numbers  than 
are  now  served  by  them.  Church  Union  will  be  realized  if  we 
care  to  accept  the  reasonable  presumption  that  God  is  as 
likely  to  be  speaking  in  a  majority  action  as  in  our  minority 
action,  if  we  recall  that  what  is  exalted  sometimes  as  a  fine 
fidelity,  is  only  a  stupid  obstinacy,  and  that  this  is  all  the 
more  probable  when  we  are  at  war  with  the  judgment  of  godly 
and  devoted  fellow-Christians  who  are  as  likely  as  we  are  to 
hear  the  voice,  and  know  the  will,  of  God.  If  we  find  our- 
selves in  the  minority  opposing  Church  Union  in  the  body 
with  which  we  may  be  identified  we  should  make  union  practi- 
cable by  acquiescing  in  the  expressed  wishes  of  the  majority. 


312        Religious  Progress  on  the  Pacific  Slope 

since  in  all  matters  where  no  principle  is  at  stake  this  is  the 
only  attitude  consistent  with  the  democracy  of  Christianity. 
Let  us  be  sure  that  we  do  not  misname  the  so-called  reason 
for  our  resistance  to  this  gracious  movement  by  calKng  it  a 
principle  when  it  is  only  a  prejudice.  All  Christians  should  be 
in  the  spirit  of  prayer  touching  the  right  of  this  matter  and 
not  suffer  themselves  to  become  the  alhes  of  retrogressive 
conservatism. 

To  thoroughly  Christianize  the  civilization  and  social  order 
of  the  North  American  Continent,  is  the  greatest  task  ever 
confronted  by  Christianity.  It  is  an  even  greater  task  than 
that  of  the  apostolic  age.  Our  civihzation  is  the  product  of 
unparalleled  energy,  is  permeated  by  growing  ideals  and 
characterized  by  militant  organizations.  There  are  numerous 
agencies  at  work  that  are  entirely  secular  and  materiahstic 
in  their  propaganda  and  purpose.  While  the  Supreme  Court 
has  declared  that  the  United  States  is  a  Christian  nation, 
and  while  all  fair-minded  people  will  admit  that  the  Church 
has  been  most  influential  in  forming  the  ideals  of  the  American 
people,  yet  inevitably  certain  forces,  antagonistic  to  the  Chris- 
tian rehgion,  have  developed  within  our  borders.  The  con- 
test for  place  and  influence  among  the  American  people 
could  not  but  be  sharp  and  keen.  Great  hberty  has  been 
allowed  to  all  types  of  thinking.  Our  Government  has  al- 
ways been  patient  toward  all  sorts  of  men,  so  long  as  their 
acts  were  not  radically  destructive  and  dangerous.  Certain 
irritating  types  of  mind  have  logically  developed  under  this 
very  generous  attitude.  The  state  as  such  has  omitted 
the  religious  emphasis.  That  fact,  coupled  with  the  hospita- 
ble attitude  towards  all  faiths  or  no  faith,  must  have  certain 
results  in  a  country  developing  as  rapidly  as  ours,  in  the  en- 
couragement of  certain  types  of  mind  toward  secularism 
and  irreligion.  Christianity  has  often  been  misunderstood 
and  misjudged.  Its  representatives  and  adherents  have 
never  been  perfect.     No  thoughtful  man  has  ever  expected 


Toward  Church  Union  313 

that  they  would  be.  Any  force  or  institution,  redemptive  or 
otherwise,  that  has  to  do  with  human  nature,  will  find  that 
the  material  through  which  it  must  express  itself  affords  a 
serious  handicap  to  ideal  development  and  expression.  The 
rapid  advance  of  our  industrial  hfe,  the  great  accumulation  of 
wealth,  the  ever-rising  standards  of  living,  have  all  conspired 
to  create  conditions  and  develop  issues  that  can  but  challenge 
the  virility  and  strength  of  religion.  The  Church  has  been 
thrown  upon  the  voluntary  support  and  co-operation  of  the 
people,  with  the  State  quite  disengaged  and  free  from  any 
special  obligation  to  aid  and  promote  the  enterprises  in  which 
Christianity  must  inevitably  be  vitally  interested.  Neither 
has  the  State  seen  fit  to  actively  encourage^  those  constructive 
moods  and  tempers  of  mind  which  Christianity  holds  as 
especially  fundamental.  It  has  been  easy  for  state  officials 
to  over-emphasize  this  lack  of  formal  identification  of  interest 
and  effort  between  the  church  and  the  state.  From  the 
attitude  of  non-Christian  it  has  been  but  a  short  way  to 
the  attitude  of  anti-Christian.  In  the  light  of  these  facts  it  is 
very  evident  that  a  religion  that  proposes  to  thoroughly  realize 
its  ideals  and  doctrines  and  apply  them  practically  to  all  the 
people,  must  be  a  religion  of  essential  genuineness,  truth  and 
power.  Furthermore,  since  the  administrative  side  of  ecclesi- 
astical organization  is  always  important,  it  becomes  clear  to  all 
the  thoughtful  that  the  demand  for  co-operation  and  even 
co-ordination  in  the  great  task  of  Christianizing  America  will 
become  more  and  more  insistent. 

America  has  witnessed  the  unprecedented  multiplication  of 
religious  sects  and  organizations.  In  no  country  on  earth, 
since  the  beginning  of  the  Christian  era,  have  so  many  different 
sects  and  denominations,  each  purporting  to  express  and 
represent  the  true  religion,  sprung  into  existence.  The  temper 
of  the  public  mind  has  been  such  as  to  allow  these  divisions 
to  increase  without  any  serious  challenge.  The  time  has  come, 
however,  in  the  evolution  of  Christianity  in  North  America, 


314        Religious  Progress  on  the  Pacific  Slope 

when  these  divisions  must  pass  under  scrutiny  and  survey. 
It  seems  quite  certain  that  as  the  situation  is  studied  im- 
partially, and  with  a  view  to  reaching  an  unbiased  verdict 
in  the  light  of  an  earnest  and  practical  age,  that  it  will 
become  increasingly  difficult  to  defend,  perpetuate,  and 
maintain  these  separating  lines  and  organizations  among 
Christians. 

Up  to  the  most  recent  past,  no  serious  effort  has  been  made 
to  secure  concerted  action  among  the  different  religious 
bodies.  This  omission  is  becoming  noteworthy  as  the  fact  is 
forced  upon  the  churches  that  the  conveying  of  the  Christian 
message  to  our  great  population  is  so  inadequately  done. 
True,  the  Christian  forces  have  been  more  or  less  sympathetic, 
but  they  have  not  always  lined  up  as  allies  in  the  day  of  battle. 
Neither  have  they  reached  the  point  of  such  disinterested- 
ness as  would  enable  them  to  join  forces  in  an  adequate  plan  of 
campaign.  This  illogical  situation  possesses  a  strange  and 
unreasonable  persistence.  It  is  supported  by  prejudice  and 
sometimes  by  bigotry.  The  tendency  to  isolation,  and  the 
desire  for  absolute  independence  in  action  seems  to  be  so 
cherished  and  exalted  by  some  as  to  forbid  their  being  at 
all  approachable  for  inclusive  alignments  and  effective  co- 
operations. It  appears  difficult  to  eliminate  from  religious 
organizations  even  the  prejudices,  methods,  and  administra- 
tive policies  that  are  known  to  be  unfruitful  and  inadequate. 
Not  only  has  the  Christian  world  witnessed  among  the  de- 
nominations of  America  an  irrational  persistence  in  exag- 
gerated local  autonomy,  but  at  times  the  forces  have  taken 
on  the  spirit  of  contention  and  questionable  rivalry  dictated 
by  mere  tradition  and  sentiment.  These  have  been  exalted 
to  a  control  that  ought  never  to  be  allowed  save  to  the  es- 
sential message  of  the  Christian  gospel  alone.  We  have, 
therefore,  to  our  sorrow,  witnessed  among  Christians,  all  of 
whom  were  ostensibly  pledged  to  one  Christ  and  one  Cross, 
an   amount   of   prejudice,    narrowness,    deliberate   isolation. 


Toward  Church  Union  315 

even  fanaticism,  bigotry,  and  intolerance,  which  all  right- 
minded  people  can  only  deplore  and  seek  to  remove.  These 
elements  of  weakness  are  not  original  with  Christianity,  but 
survive  as  unfortunate  traits  of  unsanctified  human  nature. 

It  is  high  time  that  all  the  denominations  as  segregated 
divisions  of  Christianity  study  these  facts  with  an  open  mind. 
Church  leaders  are  responsible  for  such  information  and 
instruction  as  will  lead  to  serious  and  candid  thought  on  the 
whole  situation.  The  people  are  ready  for  the  call  to  a  con- 
sideration of  the  subject,  and  some  of  the  laymen  are  in 
advance  of  the  clergymen  in  their  attitude  and  interest. 
The  activity  of  any  denomination  of  Christians  in  a  given 
community  without  any  reference  to  what  fellow-Christians 
of  other  communions  are  doing,  is  worthy  of  real  censure.  A 
point  of  contact  must  be  found  and  maintained.  Mutual 
suspicions  must  be  displaced  by  confidence  and  good-will. 
Conference  and  conjunctive  effort  should  take  the  place  of 
sporadic  and  unrelated  activity.  Fellowship  and  co-opera- 
tion, following  acquaintance,  will  prove  sweet  and  uplifting. 
The  measures,  methods,  occasions,  and  possibilities  of  feder- 
ated activity  need  to  be  well  thought  out  and  carefully  agreed 
upon. 

Our  problem  in  the  Christianization  of  America  arises  in 
large  part  from  the  overlapping  of  religious  agencies,  institu- 
tions and  organizations.  There  is  not  as  much  of  this  as 
some  people  have  supposed  but  all  who  have  administrative 
responsibility  in  the  several  churches  know  that  it  does  exist 
in  no  inconsiderable  degree.  There  are  many  localities  where 
this  overlapping  and  competitive  duplication  mars,  hurts, 
confuses,  and  sometimes  destroys  the  influence  of  the  Christian 
religion.  Every  now  and  again  the  writer,  as  an  administra- 
tive officer  in  one  of  the  churches,  has  been  compelled  to  pro- 
test in  behalf  of  the  principle  of  comity  for  the  protection  of 
a  community,  where  one  religious  organization  was  quite 
sufficient  to  meet  the  community  need,  but  where  excessive 


316        Religious  Progress  on  the  Pacific  Slope 

denominational  zeal  was  leading  toward  ruinous  duplication. 
It  sometimes  transpires  that,  in  the  eagerness  to  make  a  show- 
ing for  separate  organizations  and  administrative  officers, 
ministers  are  sent  into  communities  already  sufficiently 
churched,  with  the  result  that  neither  of  the  competing 
churches  can  be  strong  or  commanding  in  the  community. 
If  there  were  not  so  many  distinct  and  competitive  religious 
bodies  in  the  country,  this  unseemly  insistence  in  forcing 
church  organizations  into  communities  until  the  competition 
becomes  disgraceful  would  not  obtain. 

Another  problem,  related  to  the  last  one  mentioned,  is  the 
entire  neglect  of  many  districts.  The  denominations  have 
exhausted  their  resources  in  unnecessary  duplications,  with 
the  result  that  neither  men  nor  money  are  available  to  care 
for  a  great  number  of  communities  either  wholly  neglected  or 
poorly  served.  Observation  in  the  states  west  of  the  Rocky 
Mountains  compels  the  plea  that  the  Christian  forces  unite 
in  a  constructive  and  adequate  plan  for  bringing  the  ministries 
of  the  church  to  the  people  as  a  whole.  The  hundreds  and 
even  thousands  of  unoccupied  towns  and  school  districts 
must,  by  some  sane  and  disinterested  plan,  be  distributed  to 
the  respective  churches  so  that  no  district  shall  suffer  from 
neglect.  This  complete  Christian  contact  is  impossible  un- 
less the  different  church  organizations  and  administrative 
officers  are  willing  to  get  together  and  develop  a  campaign 
in  which  the  responsibility  is  definitely  distributed.  When 
this  is  done,  and  the  whole  work  undertaken  under  a  com- 
prehensive plan  of  organization,  in  which  all  interested  shall 
submit  their  isolated  ambitions  and  program  to  the  larger 
ends,  we  shall  witness  such  a  progress  of  Christianity  as  has 
never  before  been  seen.  By  this  means,  the  creative  activity 
of  each  denomination  will  be  promoted  and  utilized  in  the 
very  act  of  co-ordination  and  united  effort.  It  will  be  a  great 
day  for  America  when  all  the  Christian  forces  rise  to  the  height 
of  a  great  national  outlook  and  campaign.     Our  lack  of  co- 


Toward  Church  Union  317 

ordination  and  hearty  co-operation  is  the  deadly  foe  of  an 
adequate  rehgious  impact.  In  these  days  when  the  brain  of 
the  world  is  consenting  to  unification  for  power  and  efficiency 
in  so  many  fields,  it  seems  thoroughly  practical  that  Chris- 
tianity should  profitably  embody  the  same  principle  and 
administer  it  for  the  good  of  all  in  the  beneficent  compas- 
sions which  Christ  embodies.  Beyond  our  comparatively 
petty  denominational  program  rise  the  inviting  conquests  that 
shall  appeal  to,  and  persuade,  the  vast  populations  for  whose 
betterment  and  salvation  American  Christianity  exists. 
This  larger  outlook  will  compel  the  careful  scrutiny  of  institu- 
tions and  organizations  with  relation  to  the  larger  need. 
Certain  eliminations  are  sure  to  result  from  any  sane  and 
serious  study  of  the  present  situation.  Against  these  elimina- 
tions the  narrow-minded  will  protest  as  if  something  really 
vital  were  passing,  but  such  changes  lie  in  the  direction  of 
progress  and  victory. 

In  the  movement  just  ahead  the  conservative  elements  and 
forces  that  always  resist  any  movement  toward  adaptation  or 
new  alignment  must  be  reckoned  with,  but  never  feared.  The 
principle  of  differentiation  in  American  Christianity  has  been 
overworked.  Freedom  in  religious  thinking  and  worship  is 
invaluable;  it  is  an  inheritance  which  every  Christian  holds 
dear.  But  this  does  not  suggest  or  even  hint  that  it  is  right 
to  give  encouragement  to  a  continued  magnifying  of  the  out- 
grown divisions  in  the  Body  of  Christ.  The  fear  that  in 
case  unification  of  Christian  bodies  in  America  should  take 
place,  individual  Hberty  and  the  rights  of  the  minority  would 
be  in  peril,  is  not  well  founded.  Such  a  thing  might  have 
been  feared  in  the  long  ago,  but,  thank  God,  the  world  has 
outgrown  the  menace.  Persecution  and  oppression  of  every 
kind  is  well-nigh  dead  in  America,  and  their  survival  among 
Christians  is  unthinkable.  The  fear  of  such  a  thing  would 
have  been  in  order  a  few  hundred  years  ago,  but  not  now. 
No  power  for  unification  has  ever  touched  the  race  that  is 


318        Religious  Progress  on  the  Pacific  Slope 

comparable  with  Christianity.  ReKgious  truth  is  the  final 
and  ultimate  truth.  Our  divisions  come  from  the  non- 
essentials. Only  the  essence  of  Christianity  is  authoritative. 
When  the  Christian  world  is  sufficiently  intelligent  and  broad- 
minded  to  comprehend  the  program  of  Christ,  little  disposition 
to  apologize  for,  defend,  and  perpetuate  our  unnecessary  and 
unmeritorious  divisions  will  be  in  evidence.  May  God  hasten 
the  day! 


SEMI-CENTENNIAL  HYMN 
Tune:  Duke  Street 

O  God,  above  the  drifting  years 

The  shrines  our  fathers  founded  stand. 

And  where  the  higher  gain  appears 
We  trace  the  working  of  Thy  hand. 

Out  of  their  tireless  prayer  and  toil 

Emerge  the  gifts  that  time  has  proved. 

And  seed  laid  deep  in  sacred  soil 

Yields  harvests  rich  in  lasting  good. 

The  torch  to  their  devotion  lent. 
Lightens  the  dark  that  round  us  lies; 

Help  us  to  pass  it  on  unspent. 

Until  the  dawn  lights  up  the  skies. 

Fill  Thou  our  hearts  with  faith  like  theirs. 
Who  served  the  days  they  could  not  see. 

And  give  us  grace,   through  ampler  years. 
To  build  the  Kingdom  yet  to  be. 

John   Wright  Buckham. 


INDEX 


Adams,  George  C,  248. 

Alameda  County.  140,  272. 

Alaska,  69,  292. 

Albany  College,  93. 

AlUson,  W.  H.,  243. 

American  Christianity,  41,  118,  317. 

American   Home    Missionary    Society,    49, 

52,  54,  59,  61,  63,  65,  229,  252,  258. 
American   Institute  of  Sacred  Literature, 

37f. 
American  Temperance  Union,  57. 
Angel  Island,  160. 
Anglo  Japanese  Alliance,  202,  203. 
Armenians,  169,  173,  181.  182. 
Asilomar,  157. 
Atkinson,  George  H..  54,  67. 
Austria,  41. 
Australia,  292. 
Australian  Ballot,  134f. 

Bad6,  William  Frederick,  243. 

Baker,  Edward  Dickinson,  72. 

Baptists:  in  Northwest,  53;  in  San  Fran- 
cisco, 58,  59,  61;  growth  of,  61;  edu- 
cational work  of,  158f;  work  for  im- 
migrants, 167.  169;  seminary  of.  110, 
249;   colleges  of,  93,  97. 

Bay  Association,  257,  260,  261,  267,  268. 

Bay  Region,  see  San  Francisco  Bay  Region. 

Bashford,  Bishop,  190. 

Beckwith,  E.G.,231. 

Bell,  William  Melvin,  address,  307ff. 

Benchley,  L.  B..  232,  234.  242,  267. 

Benicia,  58,  60. 

Benton,  Joseph  A.,  59,  70,  71,  74,  213,  228. 
232,  233,  238,  239,  242,  243,  268. 

Berkeley  Bible  Seminary,  111. 

Berkeley,  City  of,  46,  58,  112,  114.  122. 
242,  253.  270,  285,  291,  292. 

Bible,  8,  23,  39,  49,  82,  96,  151,  158.  209. 
213,  217,  297,  305;  historical  study  of, 
37ff ;  Dr.  Harper's  plan  of  study,  37f . 

Bible  Society,  60. 

Bigelow,  T.  B.,  231,  234. 

Billings  Foundation,  58. 

Billings,  Frederick,  58,  239. 

Billings,  Mrs.  Julia,  239. 

Bonneville.  Captain,  51. 

Boston  University  School  of  Theology,  43, 
304. 

Boxer  Uprising,  45,  190,  191. 

Brannan,  Samuel,  56. 

Brierly,  60. 

Briggs,  Martin  C,  60.  71. 

Brooks,  Raymond  C,  243. 

Brown,  Charles  R.,  73. 

Buckham,  John  Wright,  243;  address, 
212ff;    hymn,  319. 

Buddhism,  165,  168f.  210. 

Buel,  Frederick.  60. 


California:  Catholic  missions  in.  49,  60; 
days  of  '49  in,  54f,  86.  126.  160.  269f ; 
discovery  of  gold  and  its  effect,  54, 
86,  227;  Civil  War  and,  72,  128,  264; 
early  immigrants  in,  160;  early  relig- 
ious activity  in,  55ff,  61ff;  early 
religious  papers  in,  60;  early  leaders  of 
thought  in,  70ff,  218;  education  in, 
129.  271;  social  and  political  progress 
in,  125ff;  religious  growth  in,  60,  61. 
79.  80;  graded  lessons  in,  150;  work 
among  immigrants  in,  160ff;  relations 
to  Orient.  131.  132.  133,  292;  strategic 
position  of,  70,  291f. 
California  Christian  Advocate,  60,  71,  75. 
California     Commission     on     Immigration 

and  Housing,  report  of.  142.  183f. 
Californians.  Prof.  Royce's  description  of, 

87f ;   temperament  of.  18,  126,  227f. 
California  Sunday  School  Council,  149. 
Campbell,  James  M.,  218. 
Castor,  George  De  Witt,  217,  243f. 
Catholic  Church:    religious  education  and. 
155;    work  for  immigrants,  165ff,  179; 
in  California,  60,  61;    in  Oregon,  54; 
in  San  Francisco,  61;    in  Los  Angeles, 
161;    missions  of,  49,  60;    schools  of, 
94.  100. 
Census,   of  religious  bodies,   162f;    of  im- 
migrants, 162f,  167f. 
Chamberlin,  J.  A.,  243. 
Chang,  Li  Hung,  200. 

China:  opium  trafific  in,  188f,  204;  Boxer 
uprising  in,  45,  190f;  anti-foreign 
propaganda  in,  191;  triple  interference 
for.  201;  influence  of  returned  immi- 
grants in,  177;  treaties  with,  189; 
relations  with  England,  188,  189,  190, 
198.  204f;  relations  with  France,  190, 
198,  200;  relations  with  Germany, 
190,  200,  201,  204;  relations  with 
Japan.  199,  201 ;  relations  with  United 
States,  191,  205. 
Chinese:  immigrants.  57.  177;  literati,  42; 
churches,  169f;  church  membership, 
178;  missions.  177ff;  philosophy. 
206f. 
Christ:  a  living  presence.  16,  17,  22,  221, 
224;  character  of,  21,  23,  25,  29.  30. 
317;  influence  on  history,  13,  18,  28; 
need  of  society  for,  27,  221;  leavening 
influence  of,  29,  80,  291;  progressiva 
work  of,  18,  20,  28.  29,  31,  302,  306; 
revelation  of  God,  13,  28,  32,  39,  298; 
reveals  life.  22.  32;  gospel  of.  28,  35, 
67,  297;  program  of,  38,  124,  318; 
church  of,  50,  122,  211.  252,  304; 
vitalizing  influence  of,  22,  80,  293^ 
302,  311;  triumph  of,  30,  300;  also 
8,  9,  11,  25,  31,  36,  41.  51.  59,  67,  68, 


321 


322 


Index 


156,  212,  220,  229,  255,  290,  302,  303. 
314. 

Christian  Endeavor  Society,  158,  305. 

Christian  Democracy,  llff. 

Christianity:  leavening  power  of,  308; 
unites  God  and  man,  303;  desire  for  a 
school  that  would  teach  fundaments  of, 
233;  social  ideals  of,  12ff,  67,  186,  309. 
312;  forward  urge  of,  302;  progressive 
nature  of,  25,  308;  relations  to  Orient, 
40ff,  206ff,  209,  220;  relations  to  non- 
Christian  world,  41,  42,  305;  church 
unity  and,  307ff;  also,  26,  27,  260, 
289,  302,  313,  315,  318. 

Christian  leadership:  33ff;  demands  of, 
34f,  298;  tasks  of,  35fT;  type  needed  in 
non-Christian  world,  306. 

Christian  Science,  156. 

Church:  test  of,  8;  task  of,  25,  143,  294f; 
social  ideal  of,  124,  143,  160ff,  294fT; 
beginning  of  on  Pacific  Coast,  49,  52, 
61ff;  in  Oregon,  50ff;  also  see  various 
denominations,  states,  and  cities. 

Church  Divinity  School  of  the  Pacific,  110, 
112,  170. 

Church  Union:  movement  toward,  307ff; 
advisability  of,  121,  307f;  practi- 
cabUity  of,  310f. 

Civil  War  and  California,  128,  264. 

Clark,  General,  82f. 

Coleman,  Edward,  239,  240,  250. 

Coleman,  William  T.,  127,  129. 

College:  President  Penrose's  idea  of,  105; 
President  Foster  on  work  of,  106; 
types  of  on  Pacific  Coast,  91. 

College  of  CaUfornia,  58,  65,  129.  228,  235, 
257,  264,  271. 

College  of  Puget  Sound,  94. 

College  of  the  Pacific,  89,  91. 

Columbia  Valley,  50,  54,  68,  84. 

Condit,  Rev.  Dr.,  177. 

Congregational  Church:  early  activity  on 
Pacific  Coast,  51.  53.  254ff,  272; 
growth  of,  61,  256,  263,  272;  relations 
with  Presbyterians,  52,  94,  262,  263; 
religious  education  in,  149,  150;  work 
for  immigrants,  78,  167,  169f,  181; 
in  Oregon,  5 Iff;  in  Washington,  64; 
in  Southern  California,  63,  77,  79; 
in  Los  Angeles,  63;  in  San  Francisco, 
55,  58,  61,  65,  72,  75,  263,  272;  in 
Sacramento,  59,  70,  71,  74;  in  Oakland, 
73,  78,  234,  238,  249,  272;  in  Santa 
Cruz,  263,  272;  also  see  General  Asso- 
ciation and  Bay  Association. 

Congregational  Church  Building  Society, 
171. 

Congregationalists  on  Pacific  Coast,  227ff, 
254S,  265ff. 

Consciousness,  Dr.  Dwinell,  theory  of, 
214f. 

Constitutional  Convention  of  1879,  132. 

Continental  divide,  49. 

Corwin,  Eli,  234. 

Crocker.  Mrs.  Charles,  239. 


Democracy,  hope  of,  107;  place  of  minister 
in,  3ff;  spiritual,  13;  Mazzini  on, 
222. 


Denominational    control    of    schools    and 

seminaries,  117. 
Dewey,  Admiral  George,  206. 
Disciples  Church,  111,  149ff,  152,  168,  249. 
Douglass,  John  W.,  58,  59,  61,  65. 
Durant,  Henry,  66,  228. 
Dwinell,  Israel  E.,  74,  214,  230,  233,  242 

257,  260. 


Earl,  E.  T.,  239,  240,  246. 

Earl  Foundation,  21,  63,  239,  246. 

East,  relations  with,  187ff,  220;  see  also: 
Orient. 

Education  on  Pacific  Slope:  in  Northwest, 
82ff;  Central  Coast,  86f;  Southern 
California,  90f;  comparitive  study  of 
103ff;  (see  also  states,  colleges,  and 
Schools  of  ReUgion). 

Eells,  Gushing,  52,  64,  69,  93. 

Employers  Liability  Law,  136f. 

England:  relations  with  China,  188,  189, 
190,  198,  204;  relations  with  Japan, 
198,  200,  202. 

Episcopahans:  in  San  Francisco,  58,  61; 
religious  education  among,  149;  work 
for  immigrants,  167;  social  ideals  of, 
295;   seminary,  110,  112,  170. 

Eugene  Bible  University,  110. 

Evangelistic  courses,  118. 


Federated   Trades   Council    of    San    Fran- 
cisco, 135. 
Ferrier,  WilUam  Warren,  address,  49£F. 
First  Protestant  Society,  The,  62. 
Fisher,  Miles  B.,  33;  address,  145ff. 
FHnt,  E.  P.,  232,  234,  238,  242,  254. 
Fort  Vancouver,  50,  51,  84. 
Foster,  Frank  H.,  216,  243f,  248. 
France,  40,  41,  190,  198,  200,  292. 
Eraser,  Thomas,  62. 
Frear,  Walter,  77,  228,  242,  268;    address. 

254ff. 
Freedom   and   determinism,   idea   of   Prof. 

Howison  on,  218. 
Friends  Church,  93,  96,  168. 


Gardner,  D.  Charles,  address,  294ff. 
General     Association     of     Congregational 

Churches,  228,  230,  231,  252,  256,  264. 

268. 
German  churches  on  Coast.  169f,  171. 
German  Evangelical  Church,  167. 
Germany,  40,  41,  292;  relations  with  China, 

190.  200ff,  202;    relations  with  Japan, 

190f,  199,  200,  202. 
Gladstone,  10. 

Golden  Gate,  76,  211,  240,  253. 
Gonzaga  University,  94. 
Goodell,  243,  246. 
Graded   lessons:   use  on  Coast,  146,  ISOff 

pros  and  cons  of,  147,  153. 
Gray,  E.H.,  110. 
Greek  Catholic  Church,  164,  168. 
Grey,  Frederick,  59. 
Gunn,  L.  C,  234. 
Guy,  Harvey  H.,  40,   111.  243;    address, 

187fif. 


Index 


323 


Hale.  John  G.,  228. 

Harris,  Townsend,  197. 

Haven,  James  M.,  77,  230,  234,  242,  260. 

267. 
Haven,  Thomas  E.,  242. 
Hawaiian  Islands,  158,  174,  205. 
Hawley,  David  N.,  65. 
Hawley,W.  N.,  234,  236. 
Healey,  Ezra  A.,  110. 
Heney,  Francis,  134. 
Hill.C.  M.,Prest.,  110. 
Hines,  Harvey  K,,  68. 
Hinman,  George  W.,  address,  160ff. 
Honolulu,  53,  55,  269. 
Hopkins,  Mark,  237. 
Hopkins,  Moses,  238,  239. 
Howison,  George  H.,  213,  218. 
Hudson  Bay  Company,  51,  84. 
Hunt,  T.  Dwight,  55,  58,  59,  227,  228. 
Huntington,  Collis  P.,  239. 

Immigrant  churclies,  166ff,  169,  178. 

Immigrants:  religious  antecedents,  164f; 
assimilation  of,  170ff;  national  affilia- 
tions, 169f,  173;  census  classification 
of,  162f,  167f;  numbers  on  Pacific 
Coast,  164,  182;  religious  work  for, 
160ff,  176,  177,  178ff;  financial  as- 
sistance given,  171;  schools  for,  183. 

Immigration:  rate  of  increase,  181;  report 
of  California  Commission  on,  183f; 
South  European,  180,  181;  Mexican, 
181. 

Indians:  American,  early  work  among,  49, 
51,  52;  desire  for  Bible,  81f;  missions 
among,  161,  169. 

India.  42,  45,  207,  292. 

Italians,  work  for,  169f,  179,  180. 

International  Institute  for  girls,  180. 

International  Sunday  School  Association, 
146,  147,  148,  149,  153. 

Japan:  foreign  problems  and,  193;  anti- 
foreign  edicts  in,  198;  national  de- 
fense of,  196f;  fear  of  American  inva- 
sion by,  205f ;  economic  results  of  con- 
tact with  West  in,  195f,  199;  relations 
with  China,  199,  200;  with  England, 
198,  200,  202,  203;  with  France,  198, 
200;  with  Germany,  190,  199,  200, 
202,  204;  with  the  Netherlands,  191, 
192,  196,  198;  with  Russia,  200,  201, 
202,  203;  with  the  United  States,  187, 
191,  194,  197. 

Japanese:  churches,  169f,  174;  missions, 
178. 

Jesuits,  155. 

Jewett,  Henry  E.,  238,  242. 

Jews,  9,  154,  165,  168,  180. 

Johnson,  Hiram,  135f . 

Kearney,  Dennis,  126,  127,  130,  131. 
KeUogg,  Martin  V.,  76.  230,  260.  268. 
Kiao-chau,  190,  202,  204. 
Kimball  College  of  Theology,  111. 
Kimball.  Henry  D.,  111. 
King,  Thomas  Starr,  72,  74,  128f. 
Kingdom  of  God,  6,  15,  36,  46,  80.  122.  124. 
Korea.  158.  200.  206,  300£f,  306,  308,  311. 
Koreans,  169. 


Lacy,  E.  S.,  72.  230. 

Lane,  Governor,  67. 

Latin-America,  42.  45,  158,  292. 

Laughlin,  T.  C,  243,  244. 

Le  Conte,  Joseph,  78,  218. 

Lee,  Jason,  49if ,  83,  92. 

Legislation,  advantages  of,  135f. 

Lewis  and  Clark  Exploration,  82. 

Lincoln,  Abraham:  definition  of  democracy, 
5;  idea  of  religion,  72;  greatness  of, 
33. 

Lincoln-Roosevelt  League,  135. 

Lindsley,  69. 

Lloyd,  R.  R.,  244,  248. 

Los  Angeles:  early  religious  activity  in,  61, 
62,  63;  general  progress  in,  90,  161, 
270;  churches  in,  161,  169;  Japane.se 
population  in.  178;  cost  of  immigrants 
to,  182;  religious  education  in,  154. 

Lovejoy,  W.  W.,  243.  214,  247. 

Lutheran  Church,  167,  169. 

Maclay  College  of  Theology,  109. 

McConnell.  Francis  John,  address,  3£f. 

McCown,  Chester  Charlton,  243. 

Mcguire,  James  G.,  134f. 

McLaughlin,  John,  84. 

McLean,  John  Knox,  78,  216,  217,  241, 
242,  245,  246,  249. 

McMinnville  College,  93. 

Main,  John  Hanson  T.,  address,  14ff,  ad- 
dress, 289fF. 

Manchuria,  201,  202,  206. 

Mason,  Governor,  57. 

Methodist  Book  Concern,  61. 

Methodist  Church:  religious  education  in, 
94,  144f;  work  for  immigrants.  167, 
178,  169f;  schools  of,  94,  97.  Ill; 
ideals  of.  300;  in  Oregon,  49f,  53, 
68;  in  California,  59,  60,  61;  in  San 
Francisco,  55f,  75;   in  Los  Angeles,  62. 

Methodist  Church  South,  60,  61,  62,  181. 

Mexican  immigration,  181. 

Mexicans,  religious  work  among,  169f. 
179;  numbers  of  on  Coast,  181f. 

Mexico,  161.  245. 

Meyer,  Rabbi,  155. 

Mills  College,  lOOf,  129. 

Mines,  Flavel  S.,  58. 

Missions:  Catholic,  49;  for  immigrants, 
176ff;  modern  motives  for,  302f; 
in  Pacific  Northwest.  49ff. 

Missionary:  first  station  in  Pacific  North- 
west, 52.  81;  education  on  Coast,  157; 
tours,  158;  training  in  Seminaries, 
123. 

Missionary  Education  Movement.  157. 

Monterey.  53,  57,  65. 

Mooar,  George,  73,  213,  230,  234,  238,  243, 
260,  269. 

Mormons,  56,  165. 

Moravian  Church,  167. 

Mott,  JohnR.,41. 

No/ffEisEiki    192. 

Nash,  CharlesSumner,  243,  244,  245,  249ff, 

251,  255;   address,  274ff. 
National  churches,  42. 
National  literature,  42. 
Nationalities  on  the  Pacific  Slope,  168if. 


324 


Index 


Nazarene  University,  96. 
Netherlands,  The,  191,  192,  193,  196. 
Nisqually  Fort,  51. 
Normal  schools,  129. 
Northern  California,  86,  87.  88.  150.  151. 
Northern  Pacific  R.  R.,  79. 
Northwest,  49ff,  64.  69,  79,  82,  83,  84ff, 
149.  152.  160. 


Oakland,  73,  76,  77,  78,  100,  180,  234,  235. 
238,  240,  245,  249,  270,  271.  272. 

Occidental  College,  96. 

Okuma,  Count,  1S8. 

Opium  troubles,  188ff,  204. 

Oregon:  early  missionary  activity  in,  49ff, 
83;  early  growth  of.  53f,  64.  79; 
churches  in,  54;  Sunday  Schools  in, 
149;  education  in,  82,  102,  158ff; 
school  law  of,  68;  activity  for  immi- 
grants in,  162,  164. 

Oregonian,  The,  69,  70,  85. 

Oregon  State  Agriculture  College,  99. 

Orient:  awakening  of,  203;  intellectual 
ideals  of,  206;  forms  of  government 
in.  207;  reUgious  philosophy  of.  207f; 
present  confusion  of  thought  in.  210f; 
present  situation  in,  203ff,  208,  220. 

Oriental  relations,  40,  160.  187ff,  2.53. 

Oriental  mind  and  Christianity,  206,  220£f. 

Owen  Isaac,  59,  61. 


Pacific  Christian  Advocate,  68. 

Pacific  Coast  Baptist  Theological  Semin- 
ary. 110,  249. 

Pacific  College,  93. 

Pacific  School  of  Religion:  founding  of. 
129.  228fT.  241,  254fi^,  267f;  reasons 
for  founding,  229f,  256;  character  of 
founders,  228,  241,  260ff,  272;  early 
committees,  230ff,  236,  237,  238; 
opened  in  San  Francisco,  61,  233,  240; 
early  struggles,  232,  269;  Oakland 
location,  235f,  240;  Berkeley  location, 
114,  240,  241,  247f;  change  of  name, 
21,  107;  recent  history,  245ff;  semi- 
centennial of,  2,  227,  294,  306;  prop- 
erty of,  235ff,  248,  250,  282f;  endow- 
ment, 112,  232.  236.  239f.  254.  269 
trustees,  234,  241,  248f.  251.  254 
faculty.  212.  233f.  243ff,  251.  269 
277;  alumni.  109.  244f.  255,  284 
students,  277;  library,  241,  281 
curriculum.  155;  theology.  212£f.  221. 
224;  department  of  religious  educa- 
tion. 278;  department  of  pastoral  and 
social  service.  279 ;  department  of 
university  service.  280;  extension 
work,  281f;  summer  sessions,  119; 
seal  of,  220f,  235;  contribution  to 
reUgious  thought,  213.  214,  216f, 
218f;  interdenominational  nature  of, 
246f,  251f,  300;  interdenominational 
ideals  for,  231,  234,  247,  261f;  stra- 
tegic location  of,  78,  253,  292f,  299; 
present  needs  of,  276ff,  285;  ideals  for, 
46,  159,  293,  299,  306. 

Pacific,  The,  60,  63,  66,  67,  71,  72,  73.  256, 
264. 


Pacific  Slope:  early  leaders  of,  49£f,  69ff, 
227ff,  267f;  early  church  conditions 
on,  271f;  progressive  spirit  of,  88, 
290f;  growth  of  population  and 
church  membership  on,  80,  165; 
origins  of  higher  education  on,  82f, 
89ff;  educational  progress  of,  89£f, 
99ff,  103,  146ff;  general  progress  of. 
104.  125ff;  immigration  statistics  of, 
160ff;  graded  Sunday  School  lessons 
on,  150;  schools  of  religion  on,  108ff; 
religious  thought  of,  212ff;  theological 
needs  of.  219ff;  possibilities  of  a  school 
of  religion  on,  289ff;  relations  to 
Orient,  107,  116,  160,  175,  177,  220, 
292;  present  conditions  on,  160ff, 
271f,  290ff,  296;  ideals  for,  46.  81.  107. 
211.  224.  290,  292. 

Pacific  Unitarian  School  for  the  Ministry, 
110,112,249. 

Palmer,  Albert  Wentworth.  address.  125fif. 

Pambrian.  Pierre,  51. 

Panama  Canal,  45.  86,  292. 

Parish,  John  Wesley's  idea  of,  301. 

Parker,  Alexander,  63. 

Parsons,  E.  W.,  24 3f. 

Perry,  Conmiodore  Matthew  C,  193f,  196, 
197. 

Phelps,  243. 

Philippine  Islands.  205. 

Philosophy  on  Pacific  Slope,  218f,  222. 

Political  measures  in  California,  134f,  136. 

Pemona  College,  90.  94.  95,  96,  271. 

Pond,  W.  C,  77.  177.  227,  230,  232,  236, 
242,  254. 

Pope,  C.  H..  234. 

Port  Arthur,  200,  201. 

Portland,  53,  54,  68,  69,  79,  102,  152.  154. 
169,  255. 

Portugese,  179,  180. 

Preaching  and  the  modern  mind,  6£f. 

Presbyterian  Church:  early  organizations 
on  Pacific  Coast,  53.  263;  relations 
with  Congregationalists,  52.  262,  263; 
growth  of,  61;  religious  education  in, 
94,  149,  152;  work  for  immigrants, 
167,  169f;  in  Oregon,  53.  54.  69;  Id 
San  Francisco.  58,  61,  65;  in  Los 
Angeles,  62;  in  San  Jos6,  59,  263; 
schools  of,  94,  96;  seminary,  69,  108, 
112. 

Press,  first  missionary  on  Coast.  53. 

Progressive  Party.  136. 

Protestant  churches,  growth  of,  61,  63,  79. 

Protestant  missions,  49ff,  179f. 

Protestantism,  deterring  efi'ects  of  divisions 
in,  310,  315£f. 

Rankin,  Ira  P., 

Rathbone,  Leland  D.,  247. 

Reed  CoUege,  100,  101.  102. 

Reed,  Simeon  G.,  lOlf. 

Religion:  tests  of,  8;  practical  nature  of 
25;  objectives  of.  41;  as  life,  293 
as  related  to  human  welfare,  291 
ideals  of,  on  Pacific  Slope,  290ff. 

Religious  education:  growing  recognition 
of  importance  of,  43,  278;  rising  re- 
sponse to  needs  of,  159;  denomina- 
tional   progress    in,     151£f;     eflScient 


Index 


325 


schools  of,  43;    graded  Sunday-school 

lessons,   146ff;    teacher    training,  279; 

need  of,  for  the  non-Christian  world, 

42. 
Religious  Education  Association,  147,  148. 
ReUgious  Thought  on  the  Pacific  Slope, 

212ff. 
Roberts,  William,  59. 
Russia,  40,  190,  200,  201,  202. 
Russo-Japanese  conflict,  190,  201ff, 

Sacramento.  59,  60,  70,  74,  77,  154,  228. 

Salem,  Oregon,  53,  92. 

San  Bernardino,  63. 

San  Diego,  172,  249. 

Sanders,  Frank  Knight,  address,  33ff. 

Sanderson,  E.  C,  110. 

San  Francisco:  early  religious  activity 
in,  54ff,  63;  early  churches  in,  58ff, 
272;  early  leaders  of,  70ff;  'sand  lot' 
agitation  in,  130;  Chinese  population 
in,  130,  177f;  Federated  Trades 
Council  in,  135;  Temple  Emanuel, 
]54f;  churches  in,  58,  59,  72f,  272. 

San  Francisco  Bay  Region:  immigrants  in, 
169;  Japanese  churches  in,  178;  Chin- 
ese work  in,  178;  schools  of  religion 
in,  lllf;  outlook  for,  281. 

San  Francisco  Theological  Seminary: 
organized  in  San  Francisco,  108; 
early  struggles,  108;  removal  to  San 
Anselmo,  112;  buildings,  112;  fa- 
culty, 108,  109;   students,  113. 

Santa  Cruz,  245.  263,  272. 

Scandinavians,  religious  work  among.  169, 
170.  171. 

Schools  of  religion  (general):  location, 
11  Iff;  growth  of,  113;  function  of, 
295f,  304;  buildings,  112;  endowment, 
112f;  faculty,  108f.  113ff;  students, 
113;  curriculum,  44,  115,  123,  124; 
theology,  116;  libraries,  113;  summer 
sessions,  110;  scholarships,  120;  mod- 
ern demands  of,  44,  274ff;  needs  of, 
117ff,  123. 

Schools  of  religion  (particular):  Berkeley, 
Bible  Seminary,  111;  Church  Divinity 
School  of  the  Pacific,  110,  112,  170; 
Eugene  Bible  University,  110;  Kim- 
ball College  of  Theology,  111;  Maclay 
College  of  Theology,  109;  Nazarene 
University,  96;  Pacific  Coast  Baptist 
Theological  Seminary,  110,  249;  Pa- 
cific School  of  Religion,  228ff,  244fF. 
254ff,  269ff;  Pacific  Unitarian  School 
for  the  Ministry,  110,  112,  249;  San 
Francisco  Theological  Seminary,  69, 
108,  112. 

Scott,  Harvey  W.,  69. 

Scott,  Prof.,  108. 

Seabeck,  Washington,  157. 

Seaton,  John  Lawrence,  address,  30Qff. 

Seattle,  169,  178. 

Serra,  Junipero,  49. 

Shanghai,  190,  205. 

Shangtung  Peninsula,  190,   202. 

Sikh  religion,  169. 

Sill,  Edward  Rowland.  127. 

Smith,  S.S..  66,  236,  237. 

Snowden,  R.  W.,  267. 


Social  betterment  in  California:  education 
and.  129;  early  efforts  for,  130;  sand- 
lot  movement,  130f;  gambling,  137; 
Uquor  traffic,  139f;  social  evil,  138f; 
ideals  for  future,  143. 

Socialism,  4,  5. 

Social  legislation  in  California,  133ff,  135f. 

Sociology,  teaching  of,  in  California  Col- 
leges, 129. 

Social  problems:  and  Christian  leadership, 
36ff;  and  the  church,  294ff;  and 
schools  of  religion,  297ff. 

Southern  CaUfornia:  religious  activity  in, 
77;  growth  of,  79;  immigration  to, 
90;  graded  Sunday-school  lessons  in, 
151f;  teacher  training  in,  151f;  schools 
and  coUeges  of,  90,  91,  95,  96,  111; 
temperance  in,  140.  _     _ 

Southern  California  District  Association 
of  Congregational  Churches,  94. 

Spalding,  Eliza,  84. 

Spalding,  Henry,  85. 

Spokane.  94.  169. 

St.  Mary's  CoUege.  100. 

St.  Ignatius  College.  100. 

Stanford  University.  97.  100.  102.  129. 

Stebbins,  Dr.  Horatio.  75. 

Stockton.  255.  ^^^ 

Stone.  Andrew  L..  74.  232,  234,  241,  267. 
272. 

Summer  sessions  of  Schools  of  Religion,  119. 

Sumner,  C.B.,  90.  ^    .^       . 

Sunday  Schools:  early  ones  in  Cahforma, 
56;  development  of,  42f;  demands  for 
leaders  in.  42f;  first  on  Pacific  Slope, 
53;  graded  lessons  in,  148;  teacher 
training  in.  151f;  architecture  for, 
157. 

Sunday  School  Association,  151. 

Swedish  churches,  169. 

Swett,  John,  129. 

Tacoma,  152, 169. 

Taylor,  WilUam,  59,  61,  70. 

Teacher  training,  151f . 

Temperance:  first  society  on  Pacific 
Coast,  53;  first  meeting  in  San  Fran- 
cisco, 57;  early  laws  regarding,  139; 
present  situation,  140. 

Theologians  of  Pacific  Coast,  212ff. 

Theology:  character  of  on  Pacific  Slope, 
116f,  212ff;  ideals  for  Coast,  219ff; 
experiental,  223,  224;  Christocentric, 
221,  224. 

Throop  College  of  Technology,  101. 

Tokio,  119,  295. 

Tolmie,  Dr,  51. 

Treaty:  of  Nanking,  189;  of  1854  with 
Japan,  194;  of  1857  with  Japan.  197; 
of  Shimonoseki.  199; 

Treaty  rights  in  China.  189. 

Tung,  Chang  Chih,  188f. 

Unitarian  Church.  59.  61,  110,  249. 

United  States:  Christianity  in,  312,  313; 

relations  with  Orient.   40,    187ff,   192, 

205f;    relations  with  China.  191,  205; 

relations  with  Japan,   191,   194,   197, 

198. 


326 


Index 


University  of  California,  66,  77.  88,  115, 
116,  129,  218,  228,  247,  271,  293. 

University  of  Oregon,  99. 

University  of  Redlands,  97. 

University  of  Santa  Clara,  91,  100. 

University  of  Southern  California,  97,  109, 
129. 

University  of  Washington,  94,  175. 

Vigilance  Committee  in  California,  127f. 

Wadsworth,  75. 

Walla  Walla,  50f ,  64. 

Walker,  Elkanah,  52. 

Warren,  J.  H..  63,  227,  264. 

Washington:  early  religious  activity  in,  64, 
69;  growth  of  church  and  population, 
79,  80;  education  in,  85;  graded  Sun- 
day-school lessons  in,  149,  150;  work 
for    immigrants    in,     162,     164. 

Wei-hai-wei.  190,  202,  205. 


Wheeler,  Benjamin  Ide,  66,  77. 
Wheeler,  O.  C,  58. 
Whitman  College,  69,  70,  93f. 
Whitman,  Narcissa,  84. 
Whitman,  Marcus,  50,  84,  93,  94,  ,160. 
Whittier  College,  96. 
Whitworth  College,  94. 
Willamette  Valley,  50,  51,  53.  93. 
Willamette  University,  69,  70,  92f. 
Willey,  Samuel  H.,  58,  65,  66,  228,  239. 
Williams.  Albert.  58. 
Woodbridge.  Sylvester.  58. 
Workingman's  Party  of  California,  131f. 
Wyeth,  Nathaniel  J.,  84. 

Yangtse  Valley,  190.  202,  205,  209. 

Yokahama,  192,  198. 

Young    Men's    Christian    Association,    37, 

116,180,185. 
Young    Women's     Christian     Association, 

116,180,185. 


9'5  4- 


"R279 


Religious;  progress  on  the  Pacific 
slope:  addresses  arid  papers 


AUG  1  0  19?l 


